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Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Synchronous Triplanar Reconstruction Integrated with Color Doppler Mapping for Precise and Rapid Localization of Thyroid Lesions
Published on: February 9, 2024
Heterogeneous tissue in the thyroid fossa on ultrasound in infants with proven thyroid ectopia on isotope scan--a
Jeremy H Jones1, Morag Attaie, Sanjay Maroo
1Department of Child Health, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Dalnair Street, Yorkhill, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, G3 8SJ, UK. jhj1c@clinmed.gla.ac.uk
Background:
Thyroid imaging is of proven help in establishing a diagnosis of congenital hypothyroidism in infants. US often shows tissue in the thyroid fossa when radionuclide scintigraphy reveals only ectopic uptake.
Objective:
Our hypothesis was that the use of US alone could lead to the mistaken diagnosis of normal or dysplastic thyroid in cases of scintigraphy-proven thyroid ectopia.
Materials And Methods:
We undertook a detailed retrospective review and analysis of imaging and concurrent biochemistry in infants with thyroid ectopia, confirmed by radionuclide scintigraphy.
Results:
Eighteen infants had thyroid ectopia; ten of the original US reports had suggested that cervical thyroid tissue was present. Review showed bilateral tissue in the thyroid fossa in all that was non-thyroidal in nature since, apart from showing no radionuclide uptake, it exhibited some or all of the following typical features: hyperechogenicity, heterogeneity, small size, poor vascularity, and anechoic and/or hypoechoic cysts. Also, extension of the tissue both around and behind the large cervical blood vessels was a universal finding.
Conclusion:
Considerable experience is required to interpret neonatal thyroid US. We caution against diagnosing a dysplastic/hypoplastic thyroid gland in situ on the basis of US alone, particularly if the tissue exhibits any of the non-thyroidal features described.
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