Ectopic thoracic thyroid removed by uniportal VATS approach. A case report

We speak of "Ectopic thyroid gland" when a piece of thyroid tissue is placed at a certain distance from the second to fourth tracheal cartilages.

This case report focuses on a case of a hyperplastic cystic nodule of ectopic thyroid in a 30-year-old woman treated with uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). The patient, was admitted to Emergency Unit for abdominal pain and vomit, underwent a CT which highlighted a mass of significant dimension on the right side of the mediastinum, in contact with close structures. The lesion has been removed with an innovative mini-invasive technique, which is characterized, differently from traditional surgical approaches, by reduced loss of blood and time of hospitalization and, in addiction to that, an aesthetic small-dimensioned scar.

VATS technique is minimally invasive and, moreover, it is characterized by a shorter recovery period, a minor blood loss and a shorter hospital stay. VATS has been advocated since 2010 for pulmonary resections, but today it is also performed for mediastinal intervention and a series of reports have demonstrated that it is feasible and safe.

The report aims at pointing out the possibility of undergoing this kind of surgery not only in case of pulmonary mass (on which the previous literature has focused) but also when mediastinum lesions occur, as in our case.