Synchronous Papillary Carcinoma of Thyroglossal Duct Cyst and Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Synchronous Papillary Carcinoma of Thyroglossal Duct Cyst and Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Thyroglossal duct cysts are usually located in the midline of the neck. The coexistence of carcinomas in thyroglossal duct cysts is extremely rare, with most being papillary carcinomas. Usually, the diagnosis is made postoperatively after excision of the cyst. Although the Sistrunk procedure is often regarded as adequate, controversies exist concerning the need for thyroidectomy depending on histopathological findings and risk groups. We report the case of a patient with a thyroglossal duct cyst and a nodule in the thyroid isthmus which showed intracystic papillary carcinoma foci concomitant with papillary carcinoma in the thyroid nodule. The treatment in these cases is controversial. In our case we performed a Sistrunk procedure associated to isthmectomy and after knowing the results of both samples we decided to perform a total thyroidectomy