Cervical cord compression due to extension of a papillary thyroid carcinoma.

A 76-year-old man with a long-standing neck mass presented with the acute onset of paraplegia. Computed tomographic scanning of the neck revealed direct involvement of the mass with several cervical vertebral bodies and extension into the spinal canal. Biopsy of the mass demonstrated well-differentiated papillary thyroid carcinoma. He received external radiation to the lesion but died shortly thereafter. This is the first report of cervical cord compression due to extension of a papillary thyroid carcinoma.