title: Primary echinococcal cyst of the thyroid: report of a case.
abstract: A case of primary hydatid disease of the thyroid, a rare location, is presented. The patient was a 50-year-old woman who presented with a neck mass at the thyroid region, which was noticed 2 months before her presentation. Although the clinical impression was of a neoplastic lesion (adenoma or carcinoma), a hydatid cyst was considered intraoperatively and confirmed by a frozen section histology. It was completely removed. No other sites of hydatid disease were found and the patient remained well postoperatively. In patients with a solitary cyst in the thyroid, the possibility of hydatid disease, though rare, should be always kept in mind, because a needle aspiration biopsy is a potentially harmful procedure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Ankara Numune Teaching and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Baris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zulfikaroglu
authors.forename: Necdet
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ozalp
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Keskek
authors.forename: Mahmut
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koc