Intratracheal thyroid.

Abstract

Ectopic thyroid tissue within the trachea (intratracheal or endotracheal tissue) is a rare cause of upper airway obstruction. The symptoms may be classical or, as in most cases in which the voice is not affected, the first sign may be a wheeze. This may result in the symptoms being mistaken for asthma. The presence of a submucosal upper tracheal mass is quite unusual. If one is familiar with the fact that thyroid tissue may occur in this location, then this diagnosis should be considered in patients with such symptoms, and the appropriate diagnostic studies and surgical management should be instituted. The present case report entailed a 56-year-old female who was admitted to the hospital after having been treated for a year in an outlying area. She had increasing shortness of breath and wheezing and had been treated several times for asthma. Indirect laryngoscopy revealed an upper tracheal submucosal mass which was confirmed by direct laryngoscopy and by tomography. Biopsies were taken confirming nodular ectopic thyroid tissue. The patient was operated on through a cervical incision and a tracheal flap was elevated in order to carry out a submucosal dissection of this mass. The patient has done well for more than a year following surgery, and histologically this lesion was benign in the thyroid tissue.