An intrathyroid thyroglossal duct cyst (TGDC) presented as an anterior neck mass in a 62-year-old male without history of prior thyroid disease or infection. This cyst was clinically indistinguishable from a thyroid nodule. In addition to that, fine needle aspiration cytology revealed normal–looking squamous cells. Diagnosis, work-up, management approach, and treatment of intrathyroid TGDC are discussed as well as distinguishing features between intrathyrod TGDC with tract and without tract. This is the very rare case of intrathyroid TGDC in Korean population and the possibility of intrathyroid TGDC should remain in the differential diagnosis of thyroid nodule.
Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Epithelial Cells ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neck ; Thyroglossal Cyst ; Thyroid Diseases ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Nodule

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify ultrasonographic features that can be used to differentiate between thyroglossal duct cysts (TGDCs) and dermoid cysts (DCs). METHODS: We searched surgical pathology reports completed between January 2004 and October 2015 and identified 66 patients with TGDCs or DCs who had undergone preoperative ultrasonography. The ultrasound images were reviewed by two radiologists who were blinded to the pathological diagnosis. They evaluated the following parameters: dimensions, shape, margin, location in relation to the midline, level in relation to the hyoid bone, attachment to the hyoid bone, the depth of the lesion in relation to the strap muscles, internal echogenicity, internal echogenic dots, multilocularity, the presence of a longitudinal extension into the tongue base, posterior acoustic enhancement, the presence of internal septae, and intralesional vascularity. RESULTS: There were 50 TGDCs and 16 DCs. TGDCs were significantly more likely than DCs to have an irregular shape, an ill-defined margin, attachment to the hyoid bone, an intramuscular location, heterogeneous internal echogenicity, multilocularity, and longitudinal extension into the tongue base. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound findings may inform the differential diagnosis between TGDCs and DCs.
Acoustics ; Dermoid Cyst* ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Hyoid Bone ; Muscles ; Pathology, Surgical ; Pediatrics ; Thyroglossal Cyst* ; Tongue ; Ultrasonography

Neck mass can be frequently encountered in pediatric patients. Most neck mass in pediatric patients are either inflammatory lesions or benign tumors but their differential diagnoses are not always easy. We must not forget the study results that a considerable portion of pediatric neck mass constitutes malignant tumors. Generally neck mass can be divided into inflammatory, developmental (congenital), and tumorous lesions. Developmental neck mass are generally thyroglossal duct cyst, branchial cleft cyst, dermoid cyst, vascular malformation, or hemangioma. Manifestations of inflammatory neck mass are reactive cervical lymphadenopathy, infectious lymphadenitis (viral or bacterial), mycobacterial cervical lymphadenopathy, or Kawasaki disease. The more uncommonly found pediatric malignant neck mass are lymphoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, or thyroid carcinoma. For the diagnosis of pediatric neck mass complete blood count, purified protein derivative test for tuberculosis, and measurement of titers for Epstein-Barr virus are required and in special cases, infectious diagnostic panels for cat-scratch disease, cytomegalovirus, human immunodeficiency virus, or toxoplasmosis may be needed. Ultrasonography is the most convenient and feasible diagnostic method in differentiating various neck mass. Computed tomography is performed when identifying the anatomical aspects of the neck mass or where deep neck infection or retropharyngeal abscess is suspected. Surgical management for congenital neck mass is recommended to prevent secondary infection or various complications following size increase. Most pediatric neck mass originate from bacterial lymphadenitis and antibacterial therapy is considered first line of conservative treatment. However if the neck mass is either over 2 cm in size without any evidence of inflammation, firm or fixed to surrounding tissue, accompanied by B symptoms, unresponsive to initial antibacterial therapy or over 4 weeks of conservative management, or considered keep growing for over 2 weeks, one must suspect the possibility of malignancy and must consult a head and neck specialist for further detailed evaluation.
Blood Cell Count ; Branchioma ; Cat-Scratch Disease ; Coinfection ; Cytomegalovirus ; Dermoid Cyst ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Head ; Hemangioma ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; HIV ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Lymphadenitis ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Lymphoma ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome ; Neck* ; Retropharyngeal Abscess ; Rhabdomyosarcoma ; Specialization ; Thyroglossal Cyst ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Toxoplasmosis ; Tuberculosis ; Ultrasonography ; Vascular Malformations

Hoarseness ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Humans ; Thyroglossal Cyst ; complications ; diagnosis

Thyroglossal duct carcinoma is a malignant tumor which occurs in the thyroglossal duct cyst. The incidence of thyroglossal duct carcinoma has been reported as approximately 1%. Up to now, just about 250 cases of thyroglossal duct carcinoma have been reported in the literature,most of which are single case reports and small case series. In most cases, the diagnosis of the thyroglossal duct carcinoma is not made until the histologic examination after surgery operation. The preoperative examination such as CT or fine needle aspiration cytology can help the preoperative diagnosis. But the surgical treatment for the thyroglossal duct carcinoma is still controversial. Now we report a case of a thyroglossal duct carcinoma combined with systemic lupus erythematosus. The patient herself found an anterior neck mass in the median submental region one year ago. The preoperative CT examination suggested thyroglossal duct cyst with pouch canceration(papillary carcinoma). Then she underwent a Sistrunk procedure and level I neck dissection, and the histopathological diagnosis was thyroglossal duct carcinoma. The patient was treated with levothyroxine therapy at suppressive dose after the surgery. Now the patient is at regular follow-up with no relapse occur.
Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Carcinoma, Papillary ; complications ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; complications ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Neck Dissection ; Skin ; Thyroglossal Cyst ; complications ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; complications ; diagnosis ; pathology

Thyroglossal duct carcinoma is uncommon, occurring in approximately 1% of all thyroglossal duct remnants. This rare neoplasm is characterized by relatively nonaggressive behavior with infrequent lymph nodal spread. Another rare neoplasm of the head and neck region is a carotid body tumor. A 78-year-old woman with a 3-year history of midline and bilateral neck masses was referred to us. Fine needle aspiration biopsies and a computed tomography scan suggested the diagnosis of thyroglossal duct carcinoma with cervical lymph node metastasis. Interestingly, the left-side neck mass was found to be splaying the carotid bifurcation, on computed tomography imaging. Carotid arteriography demonstrated a highly vascular mass in the bifurcation of the carotid artery that was compressing the internal and external carotid arteries. To our knowledge, this is the first reported instance of a thyroglossal duct carcinoma with neck metastasis accompanied by a carotid body tumor. In addition, the carotid body tumor in this case mimicked neck metastasis from the thyroglossal duct carcinoma.
Aged ; Angiography ; Biopsy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Carotid Arteries ; Carotid Artery, External ; Carotid Body Tumor* ; Carotid Body* ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Head ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes* ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Neck ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Thyroglossal Cyst

An oral foregut cyst is a rare congenital choristoma lined by the respiratory and/or gastrointestinal epithelium. The exact etiology has not been fully identified, but it is thought to arise from misplaced primitive foregut. This lesion develops asymptomatically but sometimes causes difficulty in swallowing and pronunciation depending on its size. Thus, the first choice of treatment is surgical excision. Surgeons associated with head and neck pathology should include the oral foregut cyst in the differential diagnosis for ranula, dermoid cyst, thyroglossal duct cyst and lymphangioma in cases of pediatric head and neck lesions.
Choristoma ; Deglutition ; Dermoid Cyst ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Epithelium ; Head ; Lymphangioma ; Neck ; Pathology ; Ranula ; Thyroglossal Cyst ; Tongue*

PURPOSE: Thyroglossal duct cyst (TGDC) is known to be the most common midline neck mass in children, but the adult population still has this abnormality. The most common symptom of TGDC is a simple neck mass, and differential diagnosis among other abnormalities is important. The aim of this study is to perform a retrospective view of TGDC in order to describe any differences in clinical features, diagnostic tools, treatment, and outcomes in children and adults who underwent surgery in a single institution, and to determine its clinical implications. METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review on 75 pathologically diagnosed TGDC patients from 1995 to 2013 who were divided into two groups: children (< or =18 years) and adults. Comparison analysis was performed for age, sex, site and location of cyst, size, diagnostic tool, surgical method, and postoperative outcome. RESULTS: Our study showed frequent occurrence of TGDC in adults. There was no significant sex, site, or location difference in the occurrence of TGDC in children and adults, however, the size of cyst in adults was larger than that in children (mean, 2.80 cm vs 2.15 cm) (P<0.001). Four patients (5.3%) had postoperative recurrence of TGDC, and Sistrunk operation showed lower recurrence rate than excision (3.1% vs 18.2%) (P<0.040). Two malignancy cases were identified postoperatively in adults. CONCLUSION: Particularly in adults, the possibility of carcinoma would make it important to perform fine-needle aspiration for differential diagnosis. Sistrunk procedure will remain the treatment of choice for most TGDC patients considering recurrence risk.
Adult* ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Child* ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Neck ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Thyroglossal Cyst*

Thyroglossal duct cyst and fistula is one of the most common birth defects. Thyroglossal duct carcinoma occurred in residual thyroglossal tube or thyroglossal duct cyst is a rare disease which is often difficult to diagnosis by clinical examination, and the prognosis by surgical removal is good. We present a 29-year-old female with thyroglossal duct cyst. In our case, the patient underwent thyroglossal duct cysts dissection without systemic preoperative examination for thyroid. Histologic analysis after a Sistrunk procedure revealed a small focus of papillary carcinoma within the TGDC. The patient has been followed up for 1 years without any metastasis.
Adult ; Carcinoma, Papillary ; diagnosis ; Dissection ; Female ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Thyroglossal Cyst ; surgery ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; diagnosis

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disorder. It usually results from the structural compromise of the upper airway. In patients with OSA, the obstruction predominantly occurs along the pharyngeal airway, and also a variety of tumors have been reported to cause such a condition. We present here the case of a thyroglossal duct cyst causing OSA in adult. This case demonstrates that thyroglossal duct cyst or some kind of mass lesions in the airway lesions should be considered in the differential diagnosis of OSA patients.
Adult ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Sleep Apnea Syndromes ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; Thyroglossal Cyst ; Sleep Wake Disorders