Case Report
1 University, Jerusalem, Palestine; 2Otolaryngology specialist, ENT Department, Abdali Hospital, Amman, Jordan Sixth Year Medical Student, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine, Jordan
2 Otolaryngology specialist, ENT Department, Abdali Hospital, Amman, Jordan
3 Consultant Histopathologist, Department of Pathology and Clinical Laboratory, Abdali Hospital, Amman, Jordan
4 Consultant Otolaryngology, Head, Neck, and Thyroid surgeon, ENT Department, Abdali Hospital, Amman, Jordan
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Mustafa Khawaja
Sixth year Medical student, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem,
Palestine
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Article ID: 101374Z01MK2023
Introduction: Ectopic thyroid tissue may appear in any location along the trajectory of the thyroglossal duct from the foramen cecum to the mediastinum, as either a lingual thyroid or a thyroglossal duct cyst. In rare cases, aberrant migration of the gland can result in lateral ectopic thyroid tissue. As for native thyroid gland, ectopic tissues are subject to malignant transformation.
Case Report: A 40-year-old female patient presented with a right-sided neck swelling. She had a history of treated Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 16 years. She has hypothyroidism and on thyroxine and is known to have benign small thyroid nodules for the last 7 years. The neck swelling was suspicious for papillary thyroid carcinoma upon cytological examination. She underwent surgery (total thyroidectomy with central and right lateral selective neck dissection) that confirmed the presence of papillary thyroid cancer in the neck but the thyroid gland was devoid of any cancer. The patient had post-operative radioiodine ablation. She is free of any recurrence or residual disease after one-year post-treatment.
Conclusion: This case highlights the unusual presentation of thyroid carcinoma arising within an ectopic thyroid tissue in an otherwise cancer-free thyroid gland. The management of this case followed the standard treatment of metastatic thyroid cancer; however, it raises the question of whether these rare cases should receive de-escalation of standard management.
Keywords: Ectopic thyroid, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Metastatic thyroid cancer, Total thyroidectomy
Mustafa Khawaja - Acquisition of data, Drafting the article, Final approval of the version to be published
Mohammad Omar - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Ali Sa'd - Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Osama Hamarneh - Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Guarantor of SubmissionThe corresponding author is the guarantor of submission.
Source of SupportNone
Consent StatementWritten informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this article.
Data AvailabilityAll relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Conflict of InterestAuthors declare no conflict of interest.
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