A Rare and Severe Complication Following Thyroid Fine Needle Aspiration: Retropharyngeal Cellulitis

Fine needle aspiration (FNA) is the most accurate and cost-effective method for evaluating thyroid nodules. We have reported a rare complication related to the procedure: severe retropharyngeal cellulitis.

A thirty-five-year-old female was admitted to hospital with hoarseness, laryngeal stridor and dyspnea without fever that emerged about 3 days after a first diagnostic FNA. After the procedure, the patient felt her voice became hoarse and 1 day before presentation began to have dyspnea, without fever. It had become difficult for her to swallow solids, and she felt as if food was sticking in her throat. In the emergency room, hematochemical tests and CT scan of the neck/mediastinum had been performed. This showed leukocytosis with neutrophilia and a severe cellulitis framework with involvement of the laterocervical neck area and in particular, the invasion of the retropharynx and the upper part of the mediastinum. The patient was admitted in hospital for an anti-inflammatory therapy with cortisone and antibiotic therapy.

For the first time to our knowledge, we have reported a severe retropharyngeal and upper mediastinum cellulitis, probably due to the FNA procedure in an immunocompetent young woman.