Anaplastic Carcinoma Thyroid in a Young Child – an Extremely Rare Occurrence

Abstract

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC), one of the most aggressive malignancies, is extremely rare in childhood. We present a case of 5-yearold child who presented with rapidly progressing thyroid swelling and stridor, for which she underwent emergency tracheostomy and biopsy. Histopathological features were suggestive of ATC and the patient died within two months after diagnosis. ATC, though very rare in childhood, should be kept in the differential diagnoses of rapidly enlarging neck masses in children. To the best of our knowledge, this is the youngest case of ATC reported in literature.

Keywords

• thyroid
• pediatric thyroid cancer
• anaplastic carcinoma