Benign Teratoma of the Thyroid Gland

Abstract

Although pathology reports of thyroid tissue in ovarian teratomas are abundant, benign teratomas of the thyroid are extremely rare in adolescents and adults. Therefore, their clinical characteristics are still not well characterized. We report a case of a 54-year-old woman with a growing mass in her neck. Left lobectomy of the thyroid revealed it to be a benign thyroid teratoma composed of tissues from all three germ layers. Preoperative evaluations included thyroid ultrasonography (US), ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC), and computed tomography (CT) of the neck. A 4.7-cm, well defined, predominantly hypoechoic mass intermingled with hyperechoic internal lesions, was observed in the inferior portion of the left thyroid lobe with substernal extension on US. The posterior extent of the nodule was not visualized due to deep attenuation of the echo. US-guided FNAC failed to reveal any thyroid follicular cells, but suggested a benign cystic tumor. Neck CT hinted at the diagnosis of teratoma because the mass contained large amounts of fat, and the margin was well defined. Extrathyroidal extension and cervical lymphadenopathy were not seen. She underwent left thyroid lobectomy, and histologic examination confirmed benign thyroid teratoma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of benign thyroid teratoma in Korea.

Benign teratoma of neck in adult: a rare case report

“…1 Cervical teratomas are divided into thyroid teratomas and extrathyroid teratomas depending on where they originated. 2 For the diagnosis of primary thyroid teratoma one of three conditions must be met, 1) a tumour must occupy a portion of the thyroid gland, 2) a direct connection must exist between the tumour and the thyroid, and 3) a teratoma is accompanied by the absence of the thyroid. 6 Some researchers have made an attempt to classify these tumours on the basis of their relationship to the thyroid gland.…”

Brief Review of Articles in 'Endocrinology and Metabolism' in 2013

“…They found TAMs in primary PTC tumors with lymph node metastasis, and higher TAM densities were related to larger tumors, suggesting a tumorigenic role of TAMs in human PTCs [ 6 ]. Interesting case reports about various thyroid diseases were presented in 2013 issues of ' Endocrinology and Metabolism ' [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”

Case Report: Severe acute respiratory distress by tracheal obstruction due to a congenital thyroid teratoma.

“…Congenital thyroid teratoma is a rare condition 1,2 . We report a case of an infant with a neck mass diagnosed by ultrasound during pregnancy which was initially supposed to be a congenital goiter.…”