Congenital occult papillary carcinoma of the thyroid gland

A male infant born at 34 weeks of gestation had a 3-mm occult papillary thyroid carcinoma of the follicular variant type that was discovered fortuitously at autopsy. Although clinically overt papillary thyroid carcinoma has been described in neonates in whom nodules were present at birth, this is apparently the first description of an occult congenital thyroid carcinoma. The reasons for this discrepancy and the potential value of further documentation of occult thyroid carcinoma in neonates are briefly discussed.