Multilocular lymphoepithelial cyst in the thyroid accompanied with a minute thyroid carcinoma.

An aggregate (17 x 13 mm) of a few small cysts was incidentally found in the left lobe of the thyroid of a 42 year old man. The inner surface of the cysts was lined by stratified cuboidal to columnar epithelium, which showed occasional ciliation and keratinization. The cysts were densely surrounded by follicular lymphoid tissue. The lesion was designated as a multilocular lymphoepithelial cyst. Directly adjacent to the cyst-aggregate a minute focus of papillary thyroid carcinoma (6 x 6 mm) existed. Tubular or papillary clusters of cancer cells were occasionally contiguous to the lining epithelium, which had penetrated through the lymphoid mantle of the cysts. Histological features of the lesion in the thyroid suggested an origin of the cysts from the developmental rest of the branchial pouch; probably from the ultimobranchial body remnant.