Sarcoma of the thyroid gland: a case report.
Sarcoma of the thyroid gland is a very uncommon malignant tumor (<1% of thyroid cancers) characterized by severe local course and rapid metastatic dissemination and very poor prognosis. We report the case of an 84-year-old woman hospitalized for expiratory dyspnea, severe malnutrition and swallowing disorders leading to bronchial infection. She had a voluminous (20 cm) extra-thoracic right-neck goiter with a considerable superficial venous pattern that had developed on an old goiter before growing recently. CEA and calcitonin levels were normal. The cervical-thoracic CT demonstrated a partially necrosed heterogeneously hypodense tumor compressing the esophagus and the trachea with displacement of adjacent structures which were not directly invaded. Large areas of necrosis and a probable metastatic image measuring 3 cm in the right median pulmonary lobe were observed. Macrobiopsy disclosed grade 3 sarcoma. Complete resection delivered a 3.170 kg tumor. Histology confirmed the diagnosis of sarcoma without neoplastic extension. Apart from right recurrent palsy, the initial post-operative period was satisfactory and the patient was discharged. Four and a half months later she was rehospitalized with local recurrence with a large metastatis in the right lung. She died two weeks later.
Service de Médecine Interne, Hôpital R. Ballanger bv. R. Ballanger 93602 Aulnay-sous-Bois, France.
A M
AM
Marteil-Oudrer
Ph
P
Friess
M
M
Vix
B
B
Gasser
N
N
Jeandidier
M
M
Pinget
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy; D004947:Esophagus / Q000473:pathology; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006042:Goiter / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D009336:Necrosis; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D012008:Recurrence; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014132:Trachea / Q000473:pathology