Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Oct;25(4):143-6.
doi: 10.4103/0972-3919.78248.

Rare developmental abnormalities of thyroid gland, especially multiple ectopia: A review and our experience

Anuj Jain  1 , Sujata Pathak
Affiliations

Rare developmental abnormalities of thyroid gland, especially multiple ectopia: A review and our experience

Anuj Jain et al. Indian J Nucl Med. 2010 Oct.

Abstract

Background: Developmental structural abnormalities of the thyroid gland are relatively rare. There are scanty reports of hemiagensis, dual and triple ectopia of the thyroid in the literature

Materials and methods: We did a retrospective analysis of 236 patients referred to us for Tc-99m Pertechnetate thyroid scan over period of four months (May 2010 to Sept 2010). Twenty of these 236 patients aged less than 20 years found to have developmental abnormality of the thyroid gland on thyroid scan. Diagnosis was correlated with anatomical imaging (USG/CT scan), fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and histopathology.

Results: Out of the 20 patients, 8 were diagnosed with thyroglossal cyst, 4 with ectopic thyroid gland, 4 with dual ectopia, two had agenesis of thyroid gland, one case each with hemiagenesis and triple ectopia.

Conclusion: The study has emphasized the indispensable role of Tc-99m Pertechnetate thyroid scan in the evaluation of midline neck swellings of childhood and diagnosing developmental anomalies of thyroid gland.

Keywords: Developmental abnormalities of thyroid; dual ectopia; thyroid scan; triple ectopia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a, b) Thyroid scan and CT image (sagittal section) showing dual ectopia – sublingual and suprahyoid – with absence of normal thyroid
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a, b) Thyroid scan and CT image (sagittal section) showing dual ectopia - sublingual and subhyoid - with absence of normal thyroid
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a, b) Thyroid scan and CT image (axial section at different levels) showing triple ectopia - sublingual, suprahyoid, and subhyoid - with absence of normal thyroid
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a, b) Thyroid scan and CT image (axial section) showing thyroid hemiagenesis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. McDougall IR. Thyroid structure, development and developmental abnormalities. In: McDougall IR, editor. Thyroid diseases in clinical practice. 1st ed. London: Chapman and Hall; 1992. pp. 4–5.
    1. Van VG. Development of the thyroid gland: Lessons from congenitally hypothyroid mice and men. Clin Genet. 2003;63:445–55. - PubMed
    1. Vasquez-Chavez C, Acevedo-Rivera K, Sartorius C, Espinosa-Said L. Thyroid hemiagenesis: Report of 3 cases and review of the literature. Gac Med Mex. 1989;125:395–9. - PubMed
    1. Khatri VP, Espinosa MH, Harada WA. Papillary adenocarcinoma in thyroid hemiagenesis. Head Neck. 1992;14:312–5. - PubMed
    1. Katz AD, Zager WJ. The lingual thyroid: Its diagnosis and treatment. Arch Surg. 1971;102:582–5. - PubMed