title: Retrotracheal goiter: a diagnostic and therapeutic problem.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, St. Vincent's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Waldron
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Coffey
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bresnihan
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Finnegan
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lynch
mesh_terms: 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