Papillary Carcinoma of Thyroglossal Cyst — A Case Repot

Introduction: Carcinoma of thyroglossal duct cyst is a rare finding, being found in less than 1% of the cases of thyroglossal duct cyst. The most frequently encountered histological type is papillary carcinoma, followed by squamous cell carcinoma and follicular carcinoma.

Objective: The study aimed to report the case of a patient with papillary carcinoma of the thyroglossal cyst and discussion/review therapy.

Report: A 51-year-old male patient, a smoker, who complained of neck lump and slight discomfort when swallowing, which started 4 years ago. Neck palpation had a 4 cm, round, firm, mobile, and unattached mass near to the midline of the neck. Requested tomography neck with cystic lesion of 3 × 4 cm located in cervical midline compatible with thyroglossal duct cyst. Resection was by transverse neck incision and was compatible with thyroglossal cyst associated with papillary carcinoma without invasion of capsule injury on pathological anatomy. Opted for conservative treatment and monitoring of patients with thyroid function and cervical ultrasound every 3 months during the first year. Patients were without signs of disease recurrence after 1 year and 8 months.

Conclusion: Studies showed that the kind of treatment and follow-up to papillary carcinoma of thyroglossal cyst varies between different services. As here in the literature, predefined protocols for this type of disease are not described, each case must be assessed individually. In most cases, surgery is the initial procedure to evaluate severity criteria, such as, thyroid suspicious nodule, capsule invasion, margins of the lesion, another except papillary carcinoma. This analysis is necessary to define if additional treatment is required.