Preoperative thyroid ultrasonography and fine-needle aspiration cytology in ectopic thyroid.

Ectopic thyroid tissue is a rare entity. The occurrence of a thyroid carcinoma in such aberrant thyroid tissue has been reported, but is very rare. Surgical excision is considered the treatment of choice in managing the lesions associated with ectopic thyroid. If the ectopic thyroid is excised, all the thyroid may have been ablated, resulting in permanent hypothyroidism. We report two cases of ectopic thyroid in emphasizing the importance of thyroid ultrasonography and fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology in evaluating ectopic thyroid before surgery.