Papillary thyroid microcarcinoma in Graves' disease presenting as a cystic neck mass

• Published in: Journal of cancer research and therapeutics Vol. 11; no. 4; p. 986
• Main Authors: Patil, Milind, Kamalanathan, Sadishkumar, Sahoo, JayaPrakash, Vivekanandan, Muthupillai, Kate, Vikram, Pandit, Nandini, Badhe, Bhawana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 01.10.2015; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd
• Subjects: Aged; Carcinoma; Carcinoma, Papillary - diagnosis; Carcinoma, Papillary - surgery; Care and treatment; Complications and side effects; Diagnosis; Diagnosis, Differential; Graves Disease - diagnosis; Graves Disease - surgery; Humans; Lymph Node Excision; Male; Single photon emission computed tomography; Thyroid Neoplasms - diagnosis; Thyroid Neoplasms - surgery; Thyroidectomy; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; United States
• ISSN: 0973-1482; 1998-4138
• DOI: 10.4103/0973-1482.157316

The presentation of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) as a solitary cystic neck mass is uncommon. Additionally, its association with Graves' disease is very rare. We report a case of occult PTMC, who presented with a cystic neck mass in the background of Graves' disease without any goiter. Imaging like ultrasound of neck, single photon emission computed tomography-CT (SPECT-CT), and technetium scan failed to detect any lesion in the thyroid, which was picked up only by the contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) of neck. The patient underwent total thyroidectomy with right modified lymph node dissection. Our case highlights the presentation of metastatic PTMC as a differential diagnosis of a cystic neck mass even in a patient with Graves' disease without any thyroid enlargement.