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
Case Reports
. 2024 Feb 28;16(2):e55162.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.55162. eCollection 2024 Feb.

Radioiodine Therapy: Alternative for the Treatment of Complicated Thyroid Ectopia

Manale Otmani  1 , Ayat Mouaden  1 , Chaymae Bensaid  1 , Imad Ghfir  1 , Hasnae Guerrouj  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Radioiodine Therapy: Alternative for the Treatment of Complicated Thyroid Ectopia

Manale Otmani et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Thyroid ectopy is the presence of thyroid tissue outside its normal cervical location. Clinical manifestations of thyroid ectopy are varied. The latter complications can be life-threatening. Emergency treatment is often surgical or endoscopic. We report a case of a 26-year-old man with tracheal thyroid ectopy, complicated by respiratory distress, in whom conventional treatments were not feasible. The patient was treated with radioiodine-131 administered in liquid form. The final control showed the complete resolution of the intra-tracheal mass. Intra-tracheal thyroid ectopy is a rare anomaly in which surgery is the traditional treatment. In certain cases where surgery is not feasible or refused, treatment with iodine-131 is a safe and effective alternative for the removal of ectopic thyroid tissue. The aim of our work is to show the significant efficiency of radioiodine therapy as an alternative for the treatment of complicated thyroid ectopia.

Keywords: ectopia; intratracheal; radioiodine 131; scintigraphy; thyroid.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Sagittal T2 MRI showing the intra-tracheal pathologic process.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Coronal CT cervical image (A), SPECT 131I image (B), and fusion SPECT/CT image (C) showing intense uptake at the intra-tracheal pathological process.
SPECT: single photon emission computed tomography.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Post-treatment fibroscopic view showing the clearance of the upper airway and the complete resolution of the pathological process.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Dual ectopic thyroid explored by hybrid SPECT/CT imaging. Case report. Ghfir I, Guerrouj H, M'hamedi F, Ouboukdir R, Mouaden A, Aouad NBR. Med Nucl. 2013;37:511–515.
    1. Surgical and medical management of midline ectopic thyroid. Mussak EN, Kacker A. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2007;136:870–872. - PubMed
    1. Ectopic thyroid tissue within the gall bladder: case report and brief review of the literature. Cassol CA, Noria D, Asa SL. Endocr Pathol. 2010;21:263–265. - PubMed
    1. Ectopic thyroid in the adrenal gland presenting as cystic lesion. Shuno Y, Kobayashi T, Morita K, et al. Surgery. 2006;139:580–582. - PubMed
    1. Ectopic lingual thyroid. Amani Mel A, Benabadji N, Benzian Z, Amani S. Indian J Nucl Med. 2012;27:124–126. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources