ABSTRACT
Nuclear medicine has made tremendous progress, and it plays an important role in the management of many endocrine disorders. Nuclear medicine involves the administration of radiotracers or radiopharmaceuticals for the purpose of diagnosis or treatment. Radiopharmaceuticals are pharmaceuticals that have been labeled with a radionuclide, as a result of which they are targeted toward a specific organ. Radioactive iodine provides the highest rate of cure for thyrotoxicosis. The thyroid takes up the radioiodine in the same way as iodide, by active transport—the iodide transport mechanism. The beta particles cause radiation injury to the thyroid cells, thereby destroying them. A block and replacement therapy strategy may be chosen to avoid thyroid storm after radioiodine therapy. Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine cancer and represents 1% of all malignancies. The commonest type of thyroid cancer is differentiated thyroid cancer, accounting for 90% of cases.
