A Case of Thyroid Hemiagenesis with Concurrent Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Abstract

Thyroid hemiagenesis is an extremely rare congenital abnormality of the thyroid gland, characterized by the absence of one lobe. The true prevalence of this congenital abnormality is uncertain, because the absence of one thyroid lobe usually does not cause clinical symptoms by itself. However, several studies showed that the prevalence of this anomaly was estimated as 0.05-0.2%. Thyroid hemiagenesis is more frequently found in women, and in the left lobe. Commonly found in the remaining lobe are benign adenoma, a multinodular goiter, hyperthyroidism, chronic thyroiditis, and rarely carcinoma. We report a case of 53-year-old woman with an incidentally discovered thyroid nodule. Thyroid ultrasonography and computed tomography scan was performed in order to evaluate the nodule, and they showed the absence of the right thyroid lobe. The nodule was suspected as papillary thyroid cancer and subsequent surgery to remove it confirmed the absence of the right lobe.