Ectopic thyroid papillary carcinoma presenting as bilateral neck masses.

Ectopic thyroid papillary carcinoma presenting as bilateral neck lymph nodes metastasis is very rare. We report a 42-year-old male with midline submental ectopic thyroid papillary carcinoma presenting as bilateral progressively growing neck masses for 3 months. A right neck mass excisional biopsy was carried out and the pathology revealed metastatic papillary carcinoma. Total thyroidectomy, submental "ectopic thyroid tissue" excision and bilateral neck dissection were then performed. No primary lesions were found in the thyroid gland. Therefore, the differential diagnosis of bilateral neck masses should include cervical metastasis of ectopic papillary carcinoma. Copyright 2010 Elsevier. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.