title: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma presenting as a pharyngeal mass with ball-valve type obstruction of the larynx.
abstract: Thyroid tumours can compromise the airway by extrinsic compression or invasion of the trachea or larynx and damage to the recurrent laryngeal nerve. In this report, the pedunculated extension of a large anaplastic thyroid carcinoma penetrated through the posterior hypopharyngeal wall causing a partial ball-valve type obstruction of the laryngeal inlet on inspiration. This unusual pattern of invasion has not been reported previously.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary, Stoke-on-Trent, UK.
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Walsh
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007818:Laryngeal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D010608:Pharyngeal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed