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Review
. 2009 Aug;29(4):213-7.

Lingual thyroid causing dysphagia and dyspnoea. Case reports and review of the literature

A Toso  1 , F Colombani, G Averono, P Aluffi, F Pia
Affiliations
Review

Lingual thyroid causing dysphagia and dyspnoea. Case reports and review of the literature

A Toso et al. Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital. 2009 Aug.

Abstract
in English, Italian

Lingual thyroid is a rare embryological anomaly and originates from failure of the thyroid gland to descend from the foramen caecum to its normal eutopic pre-laryngeal site. The ectopic gland located at the base of the tongue is often asymptomatic but may cause local symptoms such as dysphagia, dysphonia with stomatolalia, upper airway obstruction and haemorrhage, often with hypothyroidism. Two cases are presented, one in a 62-year-old female and the other in a 42-year-old female, both of whom complained of sensation of a foreign body and progressive dysphagia and dyspnoea caused by ectopic lingual thyroid. Treatment was performed with a partial endoscopic removal and an external cervical approach, followed by substitutive hormone treatment, respectively. Diagnostic procedures and therapeutic options are discussed and a review has been made of reports of lingual thyroid appearing in the literature.

La tiroide ectopica a livello della base lingua è una patologia poco frequente e deriva dalla mancata discesa della ghiandola tiroide dal forame cieco della base della lingua alla sua sede definitiva. Tale condizione è generalmente asintomatica ma può determinare l’insorgenza di disturbi locali quali disfagia, stomatolalia, sensazione di corpo estraneo ed in alcuni casi emorragia, spesso associati ad ipotiroidismo. Descriviamo i casi di due donne di 62 e 42 anni che si sono presentate alla nostra osservazione per una sensazione di corpo estraneo faringeo accompagnato da disfagia e dispnea, soprattutto notturna. Le due pazienti sono state sottoposte a due differenti tipi di intervento chirurgico mediante ablazione parziale per via trans orale e approccio esterno per via faringotomica mediana previa tracheotomia, con successivo trattamento ormonale sostitutivo. Vengono discusse le procedure diagnostiche e terapeutiche con revisione della letteratura.

Keywords: Dysphagia; Dyspnoea; Ectopic thyroid; Lingual thyroid.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
CT scan with i.v. contrast showing a well-defined mass 41 x 36 x 47 mm in size (Case 1) and with distinct margins localized at base of tongue.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
CT scan shows aberrant thyroid tissue as a high density mass in region of tongue (Case 2). Following i.v. injection of iodine material, mass showed homogeneous contrast enhancement.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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