Surgeon Compared to Nuclear Radiology Readers for Tc-99m Sestamibi Scans for Parathyroid Disease

The purpose of this study is to analyze the findings of 30 surgeons and 30 nuclear radiologists of 61 individual thyroid scans. The goal is to determine if surgeons are more prone to making a definitive diagnosis based on a given scan than a nuclear radiologist. Accuracy of localization of the two groups will be analyzed. A secure website has been designed to which the physician will be able to login and view and rate the quality of each image and make a localizing diagnosis. Once they are finished, they will not be able to make any more changes, and their responses will be compared to the responses of their colleagues. The results will be analyzed to find if there is a significant variation in the ratings between the surgeons and the nuclear radiologists as to the quality, location, and number of parathyroid glands, if any, on the scans.