Vol.102 No.10 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 102 No. 10 October 2009
A Case of Primary Tuberculosis of Thyroid Gland
Kenichiro Nomura, Nobuyuki Bando and Yasuaki Harabuchi
(Asahikawa Medical College)
Osamu Ohshima and Taketoshi Fujita
(Asahikawa Red Cross Hospital)
We report a 57-year old man with primary tuberculosis of the thyroid gland. He visited our hospital with a chief complaint of hoarseness caused by right recurrent nerve paralysis. CT findings revealed a right thyroid mass with calcification and paratracheal lymph node swelling. This mass was thought to be malignant thyroid tumor and we performed right hemi-thyroidectomy and paratracheal lymph node dissection. The unexpected diagnosis of tuberculosis based on pathological examination was made postoperatively. No tuberculosis lesion was found elsewhere. Primary tuberculosis of the thyroid gland is very rare. The preoperative findings are similar to papillary carcinoma and it is difficult to make a diagnosis preoperatively.
Key words :tuberculosis, thyroid gland, recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis