Retrotracheal goiter: a diagnostic and therapeutic problem.
A patient with chronic cough and recent dysphagia was found to have a retrotracheal mass extending into the visceral mediastinum on chest roentgenogram. A computed tomographic scan confirmed a retrotracheal lesion, which was believed to be of lymphatic origin. A thyroid scan demonstrated downward displacement of the left lobe but little uptake in the mass. Histological findings of mediastinal biopsies were inconclusive. A large retrotracheal thyroid adenoma was easily excised through a right thoracotomy. The approach to diagnosis and, in cases of doubt, the safety of surgical access through thoracotomy for thyroid lesions in this unusual site is discussed.
Waldron
D
D
Department of Thoracic Surgery, St. Vincent's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Coffey
J
J
Murphy
S
S
Bresnihan
E
E
Finnegan
P
P
Lynch
V
V
D000236:Adenoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D000368:Aged; D006045:Goiter, Substernal / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery