Sclerosing papillary carcinoma arising in a lingual thyroid: report of a case

Ectopic lingual thyroid tissue is an uncommon congenital anomaly. Tumors with identical pathological characteristics to those arising in thyroid tissue may be present in ectopic locations, but there are very few cases of malignant ectopic thyroid tumors reported in the literature. We present a review of this phenomenon and report a case of papillary carcinoma of the base of the tongue, located in ectopic lingual thyroid tissue, in a 30-year-old woman. The patient's presenting symptoms were dysphagia and oral bleeding, and we performed radical resection of the neoformation at the base of the tongue with part of the muscles of the floor of the mouth and the body of the hyoid bone, as well as total thyroidectomy. Histological examination revealed a "sclerosing" papillary carcinoma. The patient was treated with 131I and substitutive thyroid hormonal therapy. An ultrasonogram done 5 years later showed bilateral laterocervical lymph node recurrence, which was effectively treated with bilateral laterocervical lymphectomy.