Hyperthyroidism due to papillary carcinoma of the thyroid--a case report

A rare case of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid producing hyperthyroidism is presented. A young patients presented seven years after a thyroid operation with metastatic disease in the cervical lymph nodes and a history of deteriorating vision in the left eye. He also had a lesion in the base of the skull which could not be established to be metastasis from the thyroid cancer. There was clinical and biochemical evidence of hyperthyroidism. Radionuclide scan revealed uptake in the residual thyroid tissue and patchy uptake by the cervical lymph nodes. The patient underwent a complete thyroidectomy and radical neck dissection of the left side and 'berry-picking' of the lymph nodes on the right side. Although the patient became euthyroid post-operatively, his general condition deteriorated and he rapidly lost vision in both eyes before any ablative therapy could be instituted for the tumour in the base of the skull. The patient was lost to follow-up.