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Thyroid carcinoma presenting as a regional neck mass
Author(s) -
Nussbaum Moses,
Bukachevsky Roman
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.2880120204
Subject(s) - medicine , thyroid , neck mass , thyroid carcinoma , biopsy , carcinoma , radiology , population , pathology , environmental health
During 1978‐1988, we treated 197 patients with thyroid carcinoma. Twenty‐seven patients (14.0%) presented with a regional cervical mass and a clinically normal thyroid gland on initial evaluation. Excisional biopsy proved the diagnosis of metastatic thyroid carcinoma in every patient. Subsequent thyroid scans were 42% sensitive. Only 3 patients underwent fine‐needle aspirations; none showed evidence of malignant cells. Review of surgical specimens showed total involvement of the gland in 13 of 17 cases, with extracapsular spread of tumor in 3 patients. Multicentric disease was present in all but 2 neck specimens. Patient follow‐up from 1 month to 10 years revealed an 11.5% recurrence rate. The results in this group of patients is compared to the larger group of thyroid carcinoma patients, where three recurrences were found in 170 patients presensting with a clinically palpable mass in the thyroid gland. Analysis of our population comparing the subgroup with the larger series of thyroid carcinoma patients suggests that thyroid carcinoma presenting as a regional neck mass is a more aggressive disease.