Latent childhood thyroid carcinoma in diffuse lymphocytic thyroiditis.
Diffuse thyroid enlargement in a child is a rare presenting symptom of thyroid carcinoma. A papillary carcinoma may be hidden in a diffuse lymphocytic thyroiditis and should be carefully searched for during surgery. Furthermore, the finding, in frozen sections, of psammoma bodies in a lymphocytic thyroiditis should raise the suspicion of an occult malignant neoplasm. A case illustrating these diagnostic difficulties in a 5-year-old child is presented.
D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005629:Frozen Sections; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013965:Thyroidectomy; D013966:Thyroiditis / Q000601:surgery*