A Case of Double Ectopic Thyroid in the Mediastinum and Thymus: A Case Presentation and Literature Review

Kelly Shortridge, Andrew Brown1 and Daniel Fang

Department of General Surgery, Mountain Vista Medical Center, USA
Department of General Surgery and Bariatric Surgery, St Luke’s Medical Center, USA

^*Correspondance to: Kelly Shortridge 

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Abstract:

Primary ectopic mediastinal thyroid is a rare presentation. It is only present in a small subset of patients with ectopic thyroid tissue. A patient with two different foci of ectopic thyroid tissue, one in the mediastinum and in the thymus, is an even rarer presentation. We discuss our clinical case as well as review the literature and present a table with cases of double and triple ectopic thyroid tissue. Case Presentation: In our case report, we present a patient with an ectopic thyroid tissue of the mediastinum and thymus. Our patient originally presented with a multinodular goiter. This was resected unremarkably. The patient presented later with symptoms of continued cough, which prompted a CT scan chest showing a thymic mass and retained thyroid tissue of the anterior neck. This was found to be a mediastinal mass upon surgical exploration. A joint cardiothoracic and general surgical approach was planned for resection of both masses. Pathology of the masses showed thyroid tissue in both the mediastinal and thymic resection sites. The masses were not connected in any way, having us believe that the patient had a multinodular goiter, ectopic thyroid tissue of the mediastinum and ectopic thyroid tissue of the thymus. Conclusion: Generally speaking, surgical excision of a mediastinal mass is warranted. This proves beneficial in terms of diagnosis and potentially primary treatment. When considering a mediastinal mass, the diagnosis of ectopic thyroid tissue should be in the differential. Patients with thyroid disease are more likely to have ectopic thyroid tissue, and a presentation of two different types of ectopic thyroid tissue is very rare.

Keywords:

Ectopic thyroid; Mediastinal thyroid; Thymic thyroid tissue; Mediastinal mass; Thyroid goiter; Multinodular goiter

Cite the Article:

Shortridge K, Brown A, Fang D. A Case of Double Ectopic Thyroid in the Mediastinum and Thymus: A Case Presentation and Literature Review. Ann Clin Case Rep. 2019; 4: 1770.