title: Horner's syndrome following a subtotal thyroidectomy for a benign nodular goitre.
abstract: We present a case of Horner's syndrome occurring as a complication of thyroidectomy. A 42-year-old female patient presented with eyelid drop which developed immediately after thyroidectomy for goitre. Ophthalmic examination revealed eyelid ptosis, miosis and anhidrosis. Preoperative ultrasonography showed multiple isohyperechogenic solid nodules in each lobe, consistent with multinodular goitre. Therefore, the patient underwent subtotal thyroidectomy. The ophthalmic findings did not improve at the end of 6 months follow-up. Similar cases have been reported related to neck tumours or their surgery, mediastinum-located goitre and retropharyngeal abscess surgeries, but not after benign nodular goitre surgery. Several possible mechanisms have been proposed to explain this phenomenon; anatomical variations making the patient susceptible to damage to the sympathetic chain seem to be most likely in our patient.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Sutcu Imam University, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey. maslankurt80@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aslankurt
authors.forename: Lokman
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aslan
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Colak
authors.forename: Adnan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aksoy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006042:Goiter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D006732:Horner Syndrome / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D013965:Thyroidectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014463:Ultrasonography