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The presence of adipocytes within thyroid glands is a rare finding seen in thyrolipoma, diffuse lipomatosis, or thyroid teratoma. Although some cases present with multinodular goiter or autoimmune thyroiditis, the exact cause has not yet been elucidated. Among reported cases, thyrolipomas mainly occur in females and usually present as a solitary lesion. However, a few reported cases had coexisting papillary thyroid carcinomas. Herein, we present a 51-year-old female with synchronous thyrolipoma (2.0 × 1.5 × 1.3 cm) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (0.7 × 0.6 × 0.6 cm) within the same thyroid lobe. She had diabetes mellitus and hypertension and complained of anterior neck enlargement and discomfort for three months. Thyroid sonography showed multiple hypoechoic nodules, one of which was heterogeneous and ill-defined. Fine needle aspirate cytology for the ill-defined nodule was suspicious for papillary thyroid carcinoma. She subsequently received radical thyroidectomy and neck lymph node dissection. Histopathologically, one thyrolipoma and one papillary thyroid carcinoma were identified in the right lobe of the thyroid gland without metastases of lymph nodes, while other nodules were multinodular goiter. Notably, thyrolipoma may not be simply an incidental finding but might coexist with thyroid carcinomas. A brief review of the pertinent literature of prior reports is also provided.

Background Adenolipoma of the thyroid gland is a rare benign tumor composed of thyroid tissue admixed with mature adipose elements. The objective of this case is to highlight this extraordinary fatty tumor since such fatty tissue is not a usual finding within the thyroid gland. Case presentation We describe a case of a Caucasian female patient who suffered from multinodular goiter due to a thyroid Adenolipoma. The mass had progressed for four years and subsequently complicated by dyspnea and dysphagia. Histopathological examination revealed a fibrous capsule encompassing varicolored nodules of thyroid follicles and mature adipocytes. Based on the serologic, radiologic and microscopic findings, the patient was diagnosed with adenolipoma (Thyrolipoma) associated with multinodular goiter. A total thyroidectomy was performed and followed by Levothyroxine replacement therapy. Postoperative evaluation of the neck and the respiratory functions showed a positive response to the surgery with no signs or evidence of recurrence. Conclusion The comprehensive etiopathology of the fatty infiltrates within the thyroid tissue is still unclear. This case provides a range of clinical findings of thyrolipoma, but more studies are required to determine the underlying mechanisms, diagnostic criteria, and possible therapies.

The presence of adipose tissue in the thyroid gland is a rare finding. Thyrolipoma or adenolipoma of the thyroid is a benign, encapsulated lesion of the thyroid composed of variable amounts of fat and glandular elements. This report presents a case of thyrolipoma in a 69-yr-old female presenting with neck swelling and respiratory distress. Differential diagnosis of the fat-containing thyroid lesion is also presented. Differentiation of the condition from similar lesions is necessary for accurate diagnosis of thyrolipoma.

Thyrolipomas are rare benign neoplasms composed of mature adipose tissue and glandular elements. The most common clinical manifestation is a slowly enlarging neck mass. If thyroid fine-needle aspiration biopsy discloses a mixed population of adipocytes and follicular cells, the possibility of an adenolipoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis. Complete surgical excision is curative and the prognosis is favorable. We report a case of a 59 year-old female, with a recent diagnosis of multinodular goitre. The diagnosis of thyrolipoma was only possible after surgery, performed because of a suspicious fine-needle aspiration biopsy. We also briefly discuss the clinic and diagnosis of this entity.

Objectives: The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the lesions containing mature adipose tissues in surgical materials of the patients who underwent thyroidectomy operation owing to the diagnosis of nodular goiter. Methods: A total of 2800 pathologic specimens of thyroidectomies stained with hematoxylin-eosin were collected between January 2010 and November 2013 in Recep Tayyip Erdogan University School of Medicine. Pathologic sections were selected from pathology archive and re-examined. Upon examination, we determined 10 lesions with mature adipose tissue within thyroid parenchyma. Results: Thyroid lesions containing mature adipose tissue were observed in 10 (0.004 %) of 2800 thyroidectomy materials. Eight of the patients were female and two of them were male. Minimum, maximum and median age of the patients were found to be 31, 74 and 52 years respectively. All of the cases had underwent a bilateral total thyroidectomy operation. In macroscopic examination of the only one cases, a homogenous yellow-gray color was observed. In other cases a large number of colloid-rich nodules of various sizes were observed. On microscopic examination, five adipose tissues in the nodules (adenolipoma-thyrolipoma), four scattered foci of mature adipose tissues (heterotopic adiposis) and one diffuse infiltrating mature adipose tissue on entire thyroid gland (diffuse thyrolipomatosis) were determined among mature adipose tissue containing lesions. A follicular variant of papillary microcarcinoma was found in two of thyrolipoma cases. Conclusion: Nodular thyroid lesions containing mature adipose tissue, as a result of particularly on the outer surface of the gland and parathyroid glands containining mature adipose tissue may mimic parathyroid gland lesion. Therefore, to prevent from inappropriate treatments, pathologists should be aware of these kinds of lesions, especially when they are investigating the lesions of parathyroid glands during an intraoperative consultation., Amaç: Bu çalışmada, merkezimizde nodüler guatr nedeni ile opere edilen hastaların tiroidektomi materyallerinde matür yağ dokuları içeren lezyonların retrospektif olarak saptanması amaçlanmıştır. Yöntemler: 2010 -2013 yılları arasında Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Patoloji bölümüne gelen tiroidektomi yapılan 2800 hastanın spesmenlerinin hematoksilen-eozin ile boyalı kesitleri arşivden çıkartılarak yeniden incelendi. İnceleme sonucunda tiroid parankimi içinde matür yağ dokuları içeren 10 adet lezyon saptanmıştır. Bulgular: Yağ içeren tiroid lezyonları 2800 tiroidektomi materyalinin 10 (%0.004)\'unda gözlenmiştir. Olguların 8\'i kadın, 2\'si erkekti. En küçük yaş 31, en büyük yaş 74 olup, ortalama yaş 52\'dir. Olguların hepsinde bilateral total tiroidektomi uygulanmıştır. Makroskopik incelemede olgulardan yalnızca bir tanesinin kesit yüzeyinin homojen sarı-gri renkli olduğu gözlendi. Diğer olgularda çeşitli büyüklüklerde çok sayıda kolloidden zengin nodüler yapılar gözlendi. Mikroskopik incelemede, matür yağ dokusu içeren lezyonların 5\'inde nodül içinde yağ dokusu (adenolipom-tirolipom), 4\'ünde tiroid dokusunda dağınık odaklar halinde matür yağ dokuları (heterotopik adipozis), 1\'inde ise tüm tiroide diffüz infiltrasyon gösteren matür yağ dokuları (diffüz tirolipomatozis) saptanmıştır. Tirolipom olgularının ikisinde folliküler varyant papiller mikrokarsinom saptanmıştır. Sonuç: Matür yağ dokuları içeren tiroid lezyonları özellikle tiroid bezinin dış yüzeyinde nodül yapması ve paratiroid bezinin yağ dokusu içermesi nedeni ile paratiroid bezi lezyonlarını taklit edebilir. Bu nedenle özellikle paratiroid bezi lezyonlarının aranması sırasında intraoperatif konsültasyon yapılan durumlarda, patologların bu tür lezyonlardan haberdar olmasının ve yanlış bir tedavi yapılmasının önlenmesi açısından önemli olduğu görüşündeyiz.

Thyrolipoma or adenolipoma of the thyroid gland is defined as a thyroid adenoma containing mature fat tissue. It is a rare encapsulated lesion. A case of a 35-year-old female presenting with swelling in the neck that was diagnosed as adenolipoma is described because of its extreme rarity.