Pulmonary Process Revealing a Follicular Thyroid Tumor- A Case Report - Abstract
Metastases from follicular thyroid carcinomas are rare. Thoracic metastases mainly involve the lungs, mediastinal lymph nodes and pleura. We report a case showing the natural course of follicular thyroid cancer in a female patient aged 66, exposed to passive smoking, known hypertensive and type 2 diabetic, with a 46-year-old goiter refusing all management, who reported a right interscapulo-vertebral burning pain associated with mucous bronchial syndrome and stage II mMRC dyspnoea. Clinical examination revealed laryngeal stridor associated with the presence of 3 cervical masses. The chest X-ray showed a right laterotracheal opacity associated with a cannon ball appearance and bone lysis opposite the 3rd, 4th and 5th ribs. Cervico-thoracic CT scan showed 2 plunging right and left thyroid masses associated with bilateral laterocervical adenopathies and a right apico-dorsal tissue process with costal lysis, parietal and vertebral invasion associated with a cannon ball appearance and mediastinal adenopathies. Histological study revealed a secondary localization of a follicular thyroid tumor. Only decompressive radiotherapy was indicated, with surgical and iratherapy abstention in view of the patient’s advanced stage.