Black thyroid resulting from short‐term doxycycline use: Case report, review of the literature, and discussion of implications

Background. Black thyroid pigmentation has been considered pathognomonic for chronic minocycline ingestion for more than 30 years. Although never conclusively linked to overt disease, evidence clearly exists that minocycline is a competitive inhibitor of thyroid peroxidase in metabolically active thyroid tissue. This offers a potential mechanism of pigment accumulation, which can account for the occasional finding of hypopigmentation in thyroid carcinomas. To our knowledge, an association with tetracycline derivatives other than minocycline has not been documented. Methods. Herein is a case report of a patient with gross black thyroid tissue containing a hypopigmented papillary thyroid carcinoma. Twelve days before surgery, the patient was placed on doxycycline, a tetracycline derivative, to optimize an in vitro fertilization regimen. Results. The gross specimen was diffusely black in color with a 1.5‐cm hypopigmented focus of papillary thyroid cancer. Hematoxylin–eosin staining, as well as electron micrographs, was consistent with findings associated with minocycline ingestion. Conclusions. Black thyroid is rare and only previously associated with chronic minocycline ingestion. This report documents a black thyroid in a patient after short‐term exposure to doxycycline. Pigment accumulation in normal tissue is thought to occur by inhibition of thyroid peroxidase. Minocycline is a competitive inhibitor of this enzyme in its native configuration. Thyroid carcinomas are known to have abnormal thyroid peroxidase, which could account for reports of hypopigmented tumors within grossly darkened thyroid tissue. Hypopigmented foci within such “black thyroid” deserve through pathologic examination. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 28: 373–377, 2006