Ectopic thyroid tissue in submandibular and infrahyoid region

Vahit Mutlu1

  • 1Clinic of Ear Nose and Throat, Ataturk University Faculty of Medicine, Erzurum, Turkey.

The thyroid is the first endocrine gland to form during embryogenesis. At this stage, incomplete or anomalous migration of thyroid tissue causes ectopic localization of the gland. Submandibular ectopic thyroid tissue with a coexisting normally located thyroid gland is extremely rare. In this case aimed to present the findings of the 65-years-old female patient who is bilateral subtotal thyroidectomy operation performed for multinodular goiter of 12 years ago. Case, painless mass in the right submandibular and infrahyoid region for 6 months was admitted to our clinic with complaints. Result of contrast-enhanced neck computed tomography, ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy and thyroid scintigraphy were found of functional residual thyroid tissue in the normal localization as well as 2×3 cm mass in the submandibular area and 1×2 cm mass lesion in the infrahyoid region. The patient referred to excisional biopsy. Normal thyroid follicules and no evidence of malignancy were found in specimen pathologically. Postoperative follow-up of thyroid function tests were normal.

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