title: Breast metastases to thyroid gland.
abstract: Metastases to the thyroid gland are uncommon. We present the sonographic features of metastatic breast adenocarcinoma to the thyroid in a 67-year-old woman. The lesion measured up to 0.9 cm in diameter, contained an echogenic focus with associated ring-down, and was predominantly cystic, thereby resembling a benign nodule. Because of the patient's history of breast adenocarcinoma, the nodule nevertheless underwent fine-needle aspiration. The unusual appearance of the thyroid nodule underscores the importance of considering patient history in deciding whether obtaining tissue diagnosis of thyroid nodules is warranted.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Imaging Sciences, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY; †Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; and ‡Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY.
authors.forename: Mike S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Daniel T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Ginat
authors.forename: Ellen J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Giampoli
authors.forename: Avice M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: O'Connell
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000556:secondary*; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000556:secondary*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods*