Solitary Cystic Metastasis Of Thyroid Papillary Carcinoma: Two Cases Reports

The appearance of a solitary lateral cervical cystic mass as the only initial presenting symptom of occult thyroid carcinoma is uncommon. Its presence is often related with the more frequently branchial cyst in young adults, but also rarely related with thyroid carcinomas. In most of these cases all such lesions may initially be considered as metastatic foci from a primary thyroid lesion. However, an alternative explanation by means of which ectopic thyroid tissue is associated with a branchial cyst has to be considered, especially if no primary tumour is observed in the histological examination of the thyroid gland. We present two case of solitary cystic lymph node metastasis of occult papillary carcinoma of the thyroid. [Cukurova Med J 2011; 36(1): 29-33]