[Thyroid gland metastases: presentation of 2 cases]

Metastases of the thyroid gland originate mostly from carcinomas of the urogenital tract, the lungs or the digestive organs. Though they are thought to be rather uncommon, they may give rise to delicate therapeutic problems. The two cases of metastases of digestive origin reported by the authors join a series not very important to this day and presenting a rather dark prognosis. The authors consider the surgical problems as regard to aetiology which determines the length of survival. As a rule, an isolated metastasis of the thyroid gland requires a total thyroidectomy, if only to avoid the compressive effect occurring very rapidly. On the other hand, if the thyroid invasion is a part of a general formation of metastases, removal of the gland will not alter the prognosis.