Management
To control damage to the thyroid gland and avoid severe complications such as thyroid dysfunction, precise segmentation of the thyroid gland in pre-treatment CT images is essential for effective IMRT planning [PMID:22126838].
Complications
Irradiating the thyroid gland during intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for head and neck cancer may result in thyroid dysfunction, with reported incidences ranging from 6 to 48% [PMID:22126838]. This dysfunction can manifest as chronic hypothyroidism requiring hormone replacement therapy or acute thyroid storm.
The risk of thyroid dysfunction following radiation treatment is linked to both the volume of the thyroid gland exposed to radiation and the overall radiation dose [PMID:22126838].
References
1 Chen A, Niermann KJ, Deeley MA, Dawant BM. Evaluation of multiple-atlas-based strategies for segmentation of the thyroid gland in head and neck CT images for IMRT. Physics in medicine and biology 2012. link
1 papers cited of 3 indexed.