Journal of the Formosan Medical Association
Volume 105, Issue 2 , Pages 160-163, 2006

Primary Intrathoracic Goiter

  • Tien-Shan Huang

      Affiliations

    • Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.

Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.

Received 24 December 2004; received in revised form 25 January 2005; accepted 10 May 2005.

Article Outline

Nodular goiter is a common disease in Taiwan, and substernal or intrathoracic goiters are not infrequent. However, intrathoracic goiters are mainly of the secondary type and primary intrathoracic goiters are rarely seen. We report a 55-year-old woman who was incidentally found to have an ectopic goiter located in the anterior upper mediastinum with the initial presenting symptom of productive cough. Imaging studies including chest X-ray and computed tomography identified the lesion, and 131I-uptake scan showed weak uptake in the thorax. Surgical removal via thoracotomy was performed and the diagnosis was confirmed by pathology. A primary intrathoracic goiter, although rare, should also be considered in the differential diagnosis of mediastinal tumor.

Key Words:  intrathoracic goiter , mediastinal neoplasm , substernal goiter , thoracotomy , thyroid gland

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PII: S0929-6646(09)60338-7

doi:10.1016/S0929-6646(09)60338-7

Journal of the Formosan Medical Association
Volume 105, Issue 2 , Pages 160-163, 2006

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