Vol.95 No.10 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 95 No. 10 October 2002
Large Benign Thyroid Tumor Suspected of Anaplastic
Thyroid Carcinoma
Masaaki Higashino, Ryo Kawata, Tomoko Yamaguchi,
Katsuhiro Yoshimura, Ryuzaburo Nonaka, Shinichi Haginomori,
Hiroshi Takenaka and Motomu Tsuji
(Osaka Medical College)
We reported large thyroid tumor in a 75-year old female who presented with cervical tumor. The patient first noticed the mass 30 years previously, however the mass had not enlarged. Then the tumor rapidly enlarged within one week with pain. On the initial examination in our hospital, the tumor was over 10 cm, reaching the submandibular gland. The tumor was diagnosed as thyroid malignant tumor by fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNA). The histological diagnosis suggested findings anaplastic carcinoma based on the present history, FNA findings and inflammatory response of blood examination. However, the tumor did not grow after administration and there was no accumulation on Ga scintigram. So we performed hemithyroidectomy alone after one week of administration, and the tumor was diagnosed as follicular adenoma with hematoma by intraoperative frozen section. We suggested that rapid enlargement of the tumor and inflammatory response was due to intratumoral hemorrhage, and misdiagnosis of FNA was due to a complication of chronic thyroiditis.
Key words : large thyroid tumor, anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, chronic thyroiditis