[A case of complete mediastinal thyroid cancer: aberrant goiter]

A 65-year-old man was admitted with the chief complaints of hoarseness and an abnormal mass shown by chest x-ray films. CT scan, MRI, thyroid scintigram, and angiogram showed a right upper mediastinal tumor. This was histologically diagnosed as malignant mediastinal goiter by percutaneous needle biopsy. Operation was performed using a collar incision and median sternotomy. The tumor was located in right upper mediastinum and had no relation to the cervical thyroid gland. It was 7 x 5 x 3.5 cm in size. Histological examination revealed papillary adenocarcinoma of the thyroid gland. To our knowledge, 17 cases of complete mediastinal malignant goiter have been reported in Japan, including our case. These 17 patients are reviewed with regard to their clinical features in this article.