Three Cases of Papillary Carcinoma from the Thyroglossal Duct Cyst

Kim, Eun Joong; Kwon, Soon Young; Jung, Kwang Yoon; Wu, Jung Su

Abstract

Carcinoma from the thyroglossal duct cyst (TGDC) is a rare disease. Clinically, it may be confused with a benign tumor and diagnosed during operation or postoperatively. The recommended treatment is the Sistrunk procedure but no clear consensus exists regarding further management after an adequate excision of the cyst, especially with the role of total thyroidectomy and the postoperative radioactive iodine therapy. We have recently experienced three cases of papillary carcinoma in the TGDC. Two of the cases actually had the unsuspected thyroid carcinoma, and thus total thyroidectomies were performed consequent to the diagnosis. We describe three cases of papillary carcinoma from the TGDC. They underwent Sistrunk operations and total or nearly total thyroidectomies, and then radioactive iodine therapies were performed. The patients were satisfied and there was no evidence of recurrence.