[Thyroid ectopy - the presentation of four patients]

Ectopy of the thyroid gland means its incorrect location most often along the midline of the body from the foramen cecum to the mediastinum, usually in the dorsum of the tongue. In 75% of patients, the lingual thyroid is the only active thyroid tissue. ectopic thyroid is frequently incidentally diagnosed in patients without symptoms of hypothyroidism. The authors present four patients with lingual location of the thyroid treated due to congenital hypothyroidism. in two of them, an ultrasound examination revealed thyroid tissue in a proper location in front of the trachea, however, the tissue did not show jodine-131 uptake on scintigraphy performed after four week-cessation of thyroxin treatment. The ectopic tissue can undergo the same pathological alterations as in the properly located gland (single or multiple nodules, inflammation, neoplasms), therefore, the monitoring by imaging techniques seems crucial.