Technetium 99m pentavalent dimercaptosuccinic acid and thallium 201 in detecting recurrent medullary carcinoma of the thyroid.

To compare the effectiveness of thallium chloride 201 and technetium 99m pentavalent dimercaptosuccinic acid in evaluating medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (MCT), eight patients with a history of MCT underwent imaging with both radiopharmaceuticals. Thallium 201 consistently gave superior images, as well as providing one less false-negative scan. Positive scans were obtained in patients with elevation of basal calcitonin levels to more than 1,000 ng/L. All of the patients with positive scans had clinical evidence of local recurrence. Improved imaging with thallium 201 was obtained by early scanning.