Dual thyroid ectopia with a normally located pretracheal thyroid gland: Case report and literature review

Background. Only 1 case with dual thyroid ectopy and a normally located thyroid gland has been reported, Methods. We present the case of a 71-year-old woman who had 1-sided lateral neck swelling in the right submandibular space, which grew and doubled in size within 1 year. A CT scan demonstrated 2 right submandibular, lobulated, heterogeneously enhanced masses, an ectopic lingual thyroid, and bilateral thyroid goiter. A Tc-99m sodium pertechnetate thyroid scan revealed a cold area in the right lateral neck region below the submandibular gland, an ectopic lingual thyroid, and bilateral pretracheal thyroids. She underwent total thyroidectomy and en bloc excision of right neck masses. Thyroxin was prescribed following the surgery. Results. Pathological diagnoses were ectopic thyroid tissue with goitrous change and bilateral thyroid goiter. Conclusion. This report demonstrates that dual ectopic thyroid tissue accompanying a normally located thyroid gland can exist and should be differentiated from head and neck malignancies. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.