[A case of malignant lymphoma that seemed to be thyroid cancer lymph nodes recurrence]

After thyroid cancer was resected, we quite often tend to think of cervical lymphadenopathy when metastases to lymph nodes were confirmed. We report our experience with a case of malignant lymphoma when we thought it to be for thyroid carcinoma recurrence cervical part metastases to lymph nodes. The patient is a 59-year-old woman. Right lobe resection and lymphadenectomy were done to the patient with thyroid carcinoma in 1994. A tumor in the survival thyroid gland was confirmed in 1995. Aspiration biopsy cytology was class IIIa. In February 2007, the tumor of the survival thyroid gland was enlarged. Echography showed a shape irregularity of the tumor. Meanwhile, bilateral cervical part lymphadectomy also confirmed. We concluded it to be thyroid carcinoma recurrent cervical metastases to lymph nodes and performed a survival total thyroietectomy and a cervical part lymphadetectomy. Histopathology diagnosis showed it to be of a papillary adenocarcinoma of thyroid recurrence. However, there was no metastasis image of the thyroid carcinoma at the cervical lymph node. The diagnosis was malignant lymphoma.

As abrupt cervical lymphadenopathy was confirmed in the thyroid recurrence case, it is important to think of lymphatic disorder instead of metastasis of thyroid cancer.