Will 18 F-fluorocholine PET/CT replace other methods of preoperative parathyroid imaging?

Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is a common endocrine disorder usually due to hyperfunctioning parathyroid glands (HPs). Surgical removal of the HPs is the main treatment for PHPT, making the correct detection and localization of HPs crucial to guiding targeted and minimally invasive surgical treatment in patients with PHPT. To date, different imaging methods have been used to detect and localize HPs, including radiology, nuclear medicine, and hybrid techniques. The present work discusses the role and value of different imaging methods in PHPT and, particularly, evaluates the potential role of 18F-fluorcholine PET/CT as a “one-stop-shop” method for preoperative parathyroid localization in patients with PHPT. Cervical ultrasound (US) and parathyroid scintigraphy using 99mTc-MIBI are the most commonly employed methods in clinical practice. More recently, four-dimensional computed tomography (4D CT) and positron emission tomography (PET) with radiolabeled choline have emerged as useful alternatives in cases of negative or discordant findings from first-line imaging methods. Due to the excellent diagnostic performance of radiolabeled choline PET/CT and the low radiation burden, this technique seems to be an ideal candidate to substitute current imaging procedures including US, MIBI scintigraphy, 4D CT and MRI and perform a fast and reliable “one-stop-shop” preoperative localization of HP in patients with PHPT, including challenging cases of postoperative persistent/recurrent disease.