Thyroid Abscess as a Clinical Manifestation of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Abstract

Even in immunocompromised patients, thyroid abscess is a rare occurrence. One factor that predisposes the thyroid gland to infection is pre-existing diseases such as thyroid nodule or thyroid cancer. A mass usually accompanies thyroid cancer. On the other hand, thyroid cancer is uncommon to present with a thyroid cyst or abscess, even as infection symptoms. In this article, we presented a 50-year-old woman who suffered from a thyroid abscess. She had been diagnosed with an untreated thyroid nodule a year prior and presenting with an enlarged, painful, and warm neck mass accompanied with fever, and dysphagia for 7 days. Treatment began with intravenous antibiotic and percutaneous drainage with intracavitary antibiotic injection. The culture contained no organism. Isthmolobectomy was performed due to expanding abscess to the surrounding tissue, and the histopathology examination confirmed thyroid abscess with a follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Keywords

• intracavity injection
• neck mass
• thyroid abscess
• thyroid carcinoma
• thyroid nodule