Alexander J Friedman, DO, Marcos Aranda, MD, Pamela Burgess, MD, Christopher Mangieri, MD, Bradley Bandera, MD. Eisenhower Army Medical Center
Objective: Acute development of neck swelling secondary to spontaneous hemorrhagic thyroid pathology is a rare event with very few cases reported in the literature. Reported cases are secondary to: degeneration of a solid mass, trauma or a recent neck related procedure. The authors present a case of a hemorrhagic thyroid cyst with a comprehensive review of the literature.
Methods: A 61 year old male with an incidentally discovered hemorrhagic thyroid cyst presented after noting central neck swelling. The patient underwent a physical exam, laboratory evaluation and ultrasonographic exam. Laboratory evaluation noted him to be euthyroid. Ultrasound demonstrated a large left (5.3×4.6×4.1 cm) well circumscribed cystic mass with layered fluid noted within the lesion felt to be a hemorrhagic thyroid cyst.
Results: The patient underwent successful left hemithyroidectomy with demonstration of a benign thyroid pathology with an associated large hemorrhagic thyroid cyst.
Conclusions: Acute spontaneous hemorrhagic cyst formation of the thyroid is an extremely rare event and not well described in the literature. Most acute thyroid hemorrhages are associated with degeneration of solid masses, procedural related (FNA) or trauma. While rare, this should be considered in the differential for symptomatic or asymptomatic central neck swelling. Hemithyroidectomy may be necessary for symptomatic relief or for definitive diagnosis.
Presented at the SAGES 2017 Annual Meeting in Houston, TX.
Abstract ID: 86978
Program Number: MSSP03
Presentation Session: Military iPoster (Non CME)
Presentation Type: MSSPoster