Metastatic Thyroid Carcinoma of the Adrenal Gland

Overview

Journal J Endocrinol Invest

Publisher Springer

Specialty Endocrinology

Date 1993 Feb 1

PMID 8463550

Citations 6

Authors

M E Girelli

D Casara

D Rubello

M Piccolo

A Piotto

M R Pelizzo

B Busnardo

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Follicular thyroid carcinoma may spread distant metastases in sites such as bone, lung and brain. In our series of 448 patients with follicular thyroid carcinoma, distant metastases were present in 25% of cases. We report here a case of follicular thyroid carcinoma with a single metastasis at the right adrenal gland, that was found 12 years after total thyroidectomy and radioiodine therapy. Chest X ray, neck and liver echography and total body scan (TBS), performed after radioiodine therapy, were negative. During hormone therapy, serum thyroglobulin (Tg) levels were less than 1 ng/ml until 1990, and then Tg progressively increased in eighteen months up to 149 ng/ml. A new TBS was negative. At computer tomography a node at the right adrenal gland was found. The patient underwent adrenalectomy and histology showed a metastatic follicular thyroid cancer with Hurthle cells. After 1 and 5 months from surgery Tg serum levels were 0.9 ng/ml. This case shows once again the importance of Tg serum levels during follow-up of differentiated thyroid cancer.

Citing Articles

Utility of Cross-sectional and Correlative Imaging in Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma with Unusual Presentation of Adrenal Metastases - Case Series and Review of Literature.

Aggarwal P, Krishnaraju V, Sood A, Mathur Y, Bhattacharya A, Mittal B Indian J Nucl Med. 2025; 39(5):399-405.

PMID: 40061500 PMC: 11884349. DOI: 10.4103/ijnm.ijnm_76_24.

Metastatic Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma Presenting as Thoracic Cord Compression.

Petrucci R, Bohreh K, Niles N J Med Cases. 2021; 12(5):177-180.

PMID: 34434453 PMC: 8383535. DOI: 10.14740/jmc3658.

Adrenal metastasis as the initial diagnosis of synchronous papillary and follicular thyroid cancer.

He X, Soleimanpour S, Clines G Clin Diabetes Endocrinol. 2020; 6(1):19.

PMID: 33292836 PMC: 7640618. DOI: 10.1186/s40842-020-00109-0.

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Shetty S, Ganigi P, Mandanna B Asian J Neurosurg. 2017; 12(4):710-714.

PMID: 29114290 PMC: 5652102. DOI: 10.4103/ajns.AJNS_46_15.

Follicular thyroid carcinoma presenting as acute cord compression due to thoracic vertebral metastasis.

McNeeley M, Sabath A, Linnau K Radiol Case Rep. 2016; 7(3):687.

PMID: 27326297 PMC: 4899664. DOI: 10.2484/rcr.v7i3.687.

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