Anaplastic transformation of differentiated thyroid cancer at distant metastatic sites is extremely rare and has a poor prognosis. It usually occurs in the thyroid gland or cervical lymph nodes. Here we report a case of anaplastic transformation arising at multiple distant metastatic sites including the lung, liver, adrenal gland, bone, and lymph nodes in a patient 3 years after total thyroidectomy for follicular thyroid cancer.
Adrenal Glands* ; Humans ; Liver* ; Lung* ; Lymph Nodes ; Prognosis ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Thyroidectomy

Sorafenib, an oral multi-kinase inhibitor, is used for the treatment of patients with radioactive iodine (RAI) refractory differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) with favorable outcomes. Some unusual but fatal adverse effects are known for this drug and tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) is one of them, which has never been reported in thyroid cancer patients. We present a successfully treated patient who had developed TEF associated with rapid tumor regression during sorafenib treatment for locally advanced papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Sorafenib was discontinued and feeding jejunostomy tube was placed for nutritional support. 3 months later, the TEF had successfully healed and there was no visible fistula track or interval change of the viable tumor during 15 months of follow-up. Identifying patients at high risk for this potential complication and paying special attention when prescribing anti-angiogenics to these patients are crucial to prevent associated morbidity and mortality.
Fistula ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Iodine ; Jejunostomy ; Mortality ; Nutritional Support ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Tracheoesophageal Fistula*

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B (MEN 2B) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by medullary thyroid cancer, pheochromocytoma, neuroma and Marfanoid feature. Medullary thyroid cancer occurs in more than 95% patients of MEN 2B and increases mortality. So, the early diagnosis of multiple endocrine neoplasia is very important, because in the early diagnosed and treated medullary thyroid cancer, the prognosis is excellent. This is a case of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B that diagnosed early by conjunctival neuroma. A 15-year-old female patient was presented with both conjunctival masses that occurred 6 months ago. The excisional biopsy revealed conjunctival neuroma. The multiple endocrine tumor was suspected, further evaluation was performed. Medullary thyroid cancer was confirmed by thyroid ultrasound and fine needle aspiration. Finally, MEN type 2B was confirmed by a RET mutation genetic testing.
Adolescent ; Biopsy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Genetic Testing ; Humans ; Male ; Mortality ; Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 2b* ; Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia* ; Neuroma* ; Pheochromocytoma ; Prognosis ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Ultrasonography

Cervical thymic cysts are rare lesions of neck mass often misdiagnosed clinically as branchial cleft cyst and are mostly diagnosed, pathologically after surgery. The authors applied surgical resection to a 34-year-old man with right upper neck mass, which was misdiagnosed preoperatively as a second branchial cleft cyst. The pathological tissue examination result showed that the patient was diagnosed with a cervical thymic cyst. The thymic cyst of the lateral neck has not been reported from adult in Korean. Herein, we present the case with review of the related literature.
Adult ; Branchial Region* ; Branchioma* ; Humans ; Mediastinal Cyst* ; Neck ; Thymus Gland

Bronchogenic cysts are rare congenital malformations that result from an abnormal development of the ventral foregut budding of the tracheobronchial tree at the time of organogenesis. They are usually located in the mediastinum and intrapulmonary regions. Localization in the cervical area is unusual, and specially, bronchogenic cysts presenting as thyroid and perithyroid cyst are quite rare. We report a case of bronchogenic cyst mimicking a thyroid colloid cyst. We tried percutaneous ethanol injection at 3 times for treatment of this thyroid cyst, but we failed, because of intractable cough. After cyst excision with thyroid lobectomy, we diagnosed the lesion to bronchogenic cyst. Bronchogenic cyst should be considered in the differential diagnosis of perithyroid cyst, which especially the lesion is intolerable cyst to enthanol injection.
Bronchogenic Cyst* ; Colloid Cysts ; Cough ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Ethanol ; Mediastinum ; Organogenesis ; Sclerotherapy ; Thyroid Gland* ; Trees

A pseudoaneurysm is a collection of blood that locates between the two outer layers of an artery, the muscularis propria and the adventitia. It is resulted from disruption of a portion of the arterial wall. A pseudoaneurysm can be caused by trauma, blood vessel intervention, intravenous drug use, vasculitis, infectious aneurysm, and postoperative anastomotic leakage. The pseudoaneurysm of superior thyroid artery after core needle biopsy is rare. We report a case of pseudoaneurysm caused by thyroid core needle biopsy and treated by surgical treatment.
Adventitia ; Anastomotic Leak ; Aneurysm ; Aneurysm, False* ; Arteries* ; Biopsy, Large-Core Needle* ; Blood Vessels ; Thyroid Gland* ; Vasculitis

Primary sclerosing mucoepidermoid carcinoma with eosinophilia (SMECE) of the thyroid gland is a very rare disease. We present the clinical and histopathologic findings of a 37-year-old woman recently diagnosed with SMECE of the thyroid gland. The patient, clinically euthyroid, who presented with a neck swelling since last 2 years along. Fine needle aspiration cytology suggested thyroid papillary carcinoma. Total thyroidectomy, central neck dissection and right selective neck dissection were performed. Although SMECE is considered to be a relatively slow growing and non-aggressive tumor, occasional metastasis does occur. We report an additional case of SMECE, with metastasis to regional lymph nodes. Physicians should be aware of extended operation, including total thyroidectomy and/or neck node dissection for metastatic lesion of the neck node. More standardized treatment is likely to evolve in the future.
Adult ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Carcinoma, Mucoepidermoid* ; Carcinoma, Papillary ; Eosinophilia* ; Female ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Neck ; Neck Dissection ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Rare Diseases ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroidectomy

Several studies have revealed an association between radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy for Graves' disease and new or worsening Graves' ophthalmopathy. In the present case, thyroid papillary cancer was incidentally detected in a 43-year-old woman who was receiving medication for Graves' disease. This patient had undergone RAI ablation using recombinant human thyrotropin (rhTSH) after total thyroidectomy. The patient subsequently complained of a unilateral eyelid abnormality at approximately 6 months after the RAI ablation, and was diagnosed with bilateral Graves' ophthalmopathy after a thorough ophthalmological examination. I report this case for its interesting clinical features, rarity of occurrence and to highlight the importance of careful observation for appropriate management of Graves' ophthalmopathy developing or worsening after RAI ablation in differentiated thyroid cancer patients.
Adult ; Eyelids ; Female ; Graves Disease ; Humans* ; Iodine* ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Thyroidectomy ; Thyrotropin*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is commonly related with concurrent differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). We aimed to examine the clinicopathologic characteristics, prognosis and gene expression of DTC with anaplastic foci. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen patients with DTC with anaplastic foci were enrolled in this study. To compare the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis of anaplastic foci subjects with conventional ATC or DTC, we additionally included 12 ATC and 1030 DTC patients who diagnosed during same period. Immunohistochemistry was performed to check the gene expression in anaplastic foci and DTC component. RESULTS: In anaplastic foci group, tumor size was larger (2.5±1.3 vs. 1.2±0.9 cm, p=0.001), distant metastasis was more frequent (11.1 vs. 0%, p=0.000) and 1-year survival rate was low (88.9 vs. 100%, p=0.000) than DTC group. In contrast, compared with ATC group, anaplastic foci group showed younger age at diagnosis (50±16 vs. 63±18 years, p=0.039), smaller tumor size (2.5±1.3 vs. 3.8±1.4 cm, p=0.027), less distant metastasis (11.1 vs. 41.7%, p=0.084) and longer 1-year survival rate (88.9 vs. 25.0%, p=0.001). Expression of p53 protein was observed in 100% of anaplastic foci, ATC and 12.5% of papillary thyroid carcinoma component. CONCLUSION: DTC with foci of anaplastic transformation has a worse prognosis than DTC, but a better prognosis than ATC. Our results support that DTC with anaplastic foci was intermediate state from DTC to ATC.
Diagnosis ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis* ; Survival Rate ; Thyroid Carcinoma, Anaplastic ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been reported to have poor prognostic impact in variable malignancies. However, studies evaluating the clinical significance of blood NLR in patient with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) has been relatively rare, and the outcomes were inconsistent. In this study, we sought to analyze the clinical value of NLR in patients with PTC who had cervical lymph node metastasis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective chart review was conducted with 174 patients with confirmed neck metastasis of PTC after initial thyroidectomy. Blood NLR was estimated by dividing the absolute number of blood neutrophil with that of lymphocyte. Statistical analysis was conducted to evaluate correlation between NLR and clinicopathologic factors, patterns of metastatic lymph nodes, and recurrence. RESULTS: Higher NLR (>1.74) was correlated to younger age of patients ( < 45 years, p=0.045) and smaller size of tumor ( < 1 cm, p=0.017). Blood NLR had no impact on patterns of lymph node metastasis or recurrence. CONCLUSION: Blood NLR may not be considered as a predictive factor for clinical aggressiveness or prognosis in patients with PTC with lymph node metastasis.
Humans ; Lymph Nodes* ; Lymphocytes* ; Neck* ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Neutrophils* ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Thyroidectomy