Occult papillary thyroid cancer presenting as cystic metastasis of the lateral neck: A case report.

RATIONALE

Papillary thyroid cancer accounts for up to 85% of all cases of thyroid carcinoma. This disease entity is notorious for metastatic invasion of adjacent lymph nodes, including the cervical lymph nodes, potentially presenting as a growing lateral neck mass. However, these lesions tend to be recognized and diagnosed soon due to the palpable mass.

PATIENT CONCERNS

This report describes a very rare case of a huge slow-growing neck metastasis based on a 6 mm papillary thyroid microcarcinoma. This patient presented with a painless, but continuously growing right lateral neck mass. Aside from that, no specific complaints were mentioned.

DIAGNOSIS

The underlying cause of this patient's neck mass turned out to be an occult papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (Ø 6 mm) with metastatic invasion and subsequent cystic degeneration of cervical lymph nodes. Accurate diagnosis was made after surgical intervention through histopathological analysis.

INTERVENTIONS

The patient underwent complete resection of the cervical mass in conjunction with total thyroidectomy and right cervical neck dissection, followed by adjuvant iodine- and chemotherapy.

OUTCOME

Margin free surgical resection without any postoperative complications could be achieved. The patient received iodine supplementation and remained free of recurrence during regular clinical follow-ups for 2 years. The therapy was curative.

LESSONS

This case report emphasizes the importance of a thorough diagnostic work-up including preoperative tissue sampling of any cervical neck mass, since a benign appearance on imaging does not exclude a malignant process.