# Ultrasound vs CT



## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

I'm guessing no one will have an answer, but its worth a shot...

My endo called yesterday to say that because of my latest blood work, they would like me to get a neck CT instead of my usual annual u/s.

I was in a meeting and couldn't talk, but I'm guessing there's an elevation in my Tg/TgAB (which was unstimulated). I'm going to call back to get the results today.

My husband, who is not in the thyroid field but is a PA, was all concerned that she went right to CT instead of getting an u/s. His argument is that a CT has radiation and given my semi-large RAI dose, we should be avoiding radiation unless necessary.

I did some quick reading last night and, if I understand everything correctly, it seems like u/s is good for finding cancer positive lymph nodes in the central compartment (but since I had a neck dissection, I don't have any nodes in the central compartment) while the CT is good at finding more distant mets. What I'm trying to figure out is if I have read the literature correctly? It's a super busy time at work, so I'm doing loads of skimming and not deep level research.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

Sorry to hear this.

Same endo?

Let us know what you find out.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Tg = <0.1 or undetectable, as it has always been

TgAB jumped from <0.1 last year to 5.0 this year.

Yes, same endo. Heard back from my surgeon, who I adore, and he thinks a CT is the best option. Said it could be a anomaly or lab error, but that there is enough research out that has shown increases in TgAB fairly accurate measures of disease recurrence. So...next Thursday it is for a neck/chest CT.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

> Said it could be a anomaly or lab error


 I guess you could order the test again prior to your scan??


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Lovlkn said:


> I guess you could order the test again prior to your scan??


I decided to just go ahead with the CT for my own sanity.  It'll give me a semi-definitive answer and I like closure!


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

Ugh, that stinks. Let us know how the CT turns out; I always wonder which is better in certain cases--CT or ultrasound. I guess a CT would cover a larger area in a shorter amount of time?


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Apparently the u/s is good for normally abnormal thyroid tissue but it's not good to look for disease behind other structures like your voice box or clavicle.

You learning something new everyday!


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