April - June 2014, Volume 10, Issue 2

Dutta D, Kumar M, Sen A, Chowdhury J.R, Mukhopadhyay M, Mukhopadhyay S, Chowdhury S

Skull Metastasis as the Presenting Feature of Mixed Medullary and Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma

Acta Endo (Buc) 2014, 10 (2): 299-306
doi: 10.4183/aeb.2014.299

Background. Skull metastasis has not been reported from mixed medullary follicular thyroid carcinoma (MMFTC). Objective. To present a patient with expansile lytic skull metastasis. Case report. A 61 year lady is presented with goiter for 7 years and 8 cm diameter painful swelling over frontal bone for 18 months, aspiration from which revealed sheets and clusters of polygonal cells, similar to aspiration from hypoechoic nodule in right thyroid lobe. Serum calcitonin (569pg/mL) and carcinoembryonic antigen (11.2ng/mL) were elevated. Histopathology of 3.8×3.1cm nodule in thyroidectomy specimen revealed irregular islands of small polygonal tumor cells with extracellular amyloid deposits (suggesting medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC)), intermingled with thyroid follicular cells showing capsular and vascular invasion (follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC)). Immunohistochemistry of the thyroid tumor was negative for calcitonin and for thyroglobulin. Post-operative serum calcitonin and stimulated thyroglobulin were respectively 97 pg/mL and 11.5 ng/mL. I131 whole body scan revealed intense uptake in region of the skull metastasis with small uptake in thyroid bed. She received 150 mCi of I131with resolution of pain, heaviness, throbbing, reduction in swelling size, and lack of disease progression. Conclusions. Skull metastasis was the presenting feature of MMFTC which improved with I131 therapy. Patients with lytic skull metastasis should be evaluated for occult thyroid malignancy.

Keywords: mixed medullary follicular thyroid carcinoma, skull metastasis, synchronous metastasis, medullary thyroid carcinoma, follicular thyroid carcinoma.

Correspondence: Deep Dutta MD, Institute of Post-graduate Medical Education & Research (IPGMER) and Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial (SSKM) Hospital, Department of Endocrinology & Metabolism, Room-9A, 4th floor Ronald Ross Building , IPGMER & SSKM Hospital, Department of Endocrinology & Metabolism, 244 AJC Bose Road, Calcutta, 700020, India, E-mail: deepdutta2000@yahoo.com