Neoplastic thrombotic endocarditis of the tricuspid valve in a patient with carcinoma of the thyroid. Report of a case.

A rare case of neoplastic thrombotic endocarditis of the tricuspid valve in a patient with poorly differentiated follicular carcinoma of the thyroid is described. Although some previous reports documented extension of the follicular thyroid carcinoma into the great veins of the neck to the right cardiac chambers, this seems to be the first report of a neoplastic thrombotic lesion of the tricuspid valve in a patient with thyroid carcinoma. In our institute, where about 2,500 autopsies are performed yearly, and about 600 valvular lesions are discovered, such a lesion was never detected. In patients with carcinoma, a neoplastic thrombotic endocarditis may be a source of microembolic neoplastic spread leading to a possible pulmonary colonisation.