A Case Report and Short Literature Review on Truncated Expression of the Na+/I- Symporter (TENIS) Syndrome in a Nigerian
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30442/ahr.1101-10-274Keywords:
Iodine radioisotopes, Nuclear medicine, Radionuclide imaging, Symporter, Thyroglobulin, Thyroid neoplasmsAbstract
TENIS is an acronym for ‘Truncated Expression of Na+/I- Symporter’ or ‘Thyroglobulin Elevation (but) Negative Iodine Scan’. Its diagnosis is made based on an incongruence between serum thyroglobulin levels and radioactive iodine imaging findings in patients with thyroid cancer. This report aims to present one of the earliest described patients with TENIS syndrome in Nigerian literature and to display the utility of basic nuclear medicine (NM) imaging in diagnosing the condition. This case report illustrates the clinical features of the syndrome with the typical clinical and imaging features of the TENIS syndrome: off-suppression serum thyroglobulin of 834 ng/ml in the presence of normal anti-thyroglobulin antibody levels. At the same time, the I-131 whole-body scan did not reveal a corresponding disease burden. It is concluded that improved NM and laboratory medicine services in the developing parts of the world are recommended to improve the detection and management of this syndrome.
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