OBJECTIVE@#To determine the effect of
radiotherapy on the
thyroid of
patients with
nasopharyngeal cancer.@*
METHODS@#
Thyroid dynamic imaging was performed on 51
patients with
nasopharyngeal cancer who had the
metastasis of the jugular
lymph node before and after the
radiotherapy. The peak
time of the
thyroid artery perfusion and the constant K were obtained. The levels of free
triiodothyronine (FT3), free
thyroxine (FT4), and
thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in the
blood serum were measured at the same
time.@*RESULTS@#The peak
time of the left and right
thyroid artery perfusion before the
radiotherapy was (14.5+/-2.1)s and (15.1+/-1.9)s, respectively, while that after the
radiotherapy was (19.3+/-3.2)s and (20.2+/-3.5)s, respectively. There was significant difference between the pre- and post-
radiotherapy (P0.05, respectively].@*CONCLUSION@#The peak
time of the
thyroid artery perfusion and the constant K which reflect
blood stream status after the
radiotherapy are all damaged in
patients with
nasopharyngeal cancer. The level of FT3 and FT4 in the
blood serum is dropped but the TSH level has no obvious change.