Abstract: Introduction: Ectopic thyroid is any thyroid tissue not located in the usual position. The most common place is lingual and sublingual region. The prevalence of ectopic thyroid gland in healthy individuals is 1/100000 but it is higher in patients with thyroid diseases. They are usually benign. The risk for malignancy is less than 1%. We present a case of a patient with sublingual thyroid. Case Description: The patient H.L. female, 63 years old from Tirana, Albania first came in contact with the Endocrinology specialist with complains of fatigue and difficulty of swallowing food. She referred to surgery of the thyroid gland (nodulectomy) 15 years ago. Since then, she had not required any medication because her laboratory analyses were always inside the normal range. Hormonal findings were normal. A neck ultrasound was performed and both lobes of the gland of the thyroid were in normal position, without evidence of nodules. In the superior part of the neck, apart from the thyroid, a vegetation was seen. So, a CT (head and neck) was done and the multinodular structure in the sublingual region of the head looked like a thyroid lobe. The patient was referred to the Nuclear Imaging Department where a Thyroid Scintigraphy with Tc99m was performed. The sublingual vegetation had a higher uptake than the thyroid itself. The patient underwent surgery and the biopsy resulted in thyroid tissue, without evidence of atypical cellular proliferation. She continued with the follow ups and no other interventions or treatment were necessaire.
Conclusion: Ectopic thyroid gland is a relatively unusual development of the thyroid tissue. In most of the cases they are asymptomatic and benign. In order to evaluate them, a laboratory and imaging exploration should be conducted. If they become symptomatic or with tendency of malignancy, surgery should be recommended.
Title: Ectopic Sublingual Thyroid – A case report
Author: Violeta Hoxha, Adela Haxhiraj, Sara Zavalani, Besa Hyka, Ira Xhemollari
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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