Nodular hyperplasia, black thyroid, and chronic minocycline ingestion in a teenager

An 18-year-old man with left-lobe thyroid hemiagenesis underwent isthmectomy for management of a nodule that failed to take up radioactive iodine during a nuclear scan. The resected tissue, which demonstrated nodular hyperplasia, and the remaining right lobe, were black. The association between deep staining and chronic minocycline ingestion was subsequently recognized. Twelve years later, the patient remained asymptomatic, suggesting that complete resection of tetracycline-stained thyroid tissue is unnecessary.