Why should intravenous contrast be avoided if possible when a patient has a neck CT scan?

Under normal circumstances, a patient undergoing a neck CT scan might be given an intravenous injection of contrast that would help to highlight blood vessels and other structures appearing in generated pictures. This intravenous contrast contains a large amount of iodine.

In many cases, a patient who has papillary thyroid cancer or follicular thyroid cancer may undergo treatment with radioactive iodine following thyroid surgery. If the patient has been exposed to a large amount of iodine from intravenous contrast, this may make it difficult for any remaining thyroid tissue to take up a dose of radioactive iodine.

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