Main description:

Just prior to the 1982 Annual Meeting of the European Thyroid Association in Brussels, a number of outstanding experts in the field of X-ray fluorescence gathered at the Academisch Ziekenhuis of the Free University of Brussels in a joint effort to more clearly define the actual place and value of the latest newcomer among the techniques available for the in vivo assessment of thyroid function. It is the merit of Prof. M. Jonckheer to have organised this meeting and to have made available the work presented there to a larger public in the form of this monograph. Both, the meeting and the written accounts thereof are greatly appreciated by all thyroidologists who care for properly defining the genuine value of X-Ray fluorescence in scientific research and in clinical management of thyroid disorder. Three main conclusions can be drawn from the work presented 1. X-ray fluorescence has become a safe, convenient and reliable tool for measuring intrathyroidal iodine stores in vivo with an inter-assay reproducibility estimated at roughly 10% 2. X-ray fluorescence, used by expert hands, is a highly interesting tool to follow changes of intra thyroidal iodine stores in time, subsequent e. g. to the exposure of the thyroid gland to excess iodine 3. In contrast, no definite place of X-ray fluorescence as a technique in routine assessment of thyroid disease is yet at the horizon This latter conclusion may appear somewhat disappointing.

Contents:

I : Fundamental and Technical Aspects.- 1 Theoretical bases of XRF.- 2 Incident sources.- 3 Detection systems for XRF studies of the thyroid.- 4 A stationary X-ray fluorescent system for measuring thyroid iodine concentrations.- 5 Quantification problems in X-ray fluorescence determination of intrathyroidal iodine.- 6 Quality control procedures and evaluation of a fluorescent thyroid scanner.- II : Clinical Applications.- 7 Stable iodine and the thyroid function.- 8 Endemic non-toxic goiter.- 9 Feasibility of in vivo XRF dynamic study of the thyroid following stable iodine administration.- 10 Thyroid iodine content measurement helps for the diagnosis of hyperthyroidism with undetectable radionuclide uptake.- 11 Clinical usefulness of X-ray fluorescence thyroid iodine quatitation and scanning.- Author index.- Index of subjects.