Intrathyroidal parathyroid carcinoma presenting as thyroid nodule: Case report of unusual location

Abstract

Introduction: Parathyroid carcinoma (PC) is considered a rare and uncommon malignancy. Its prevalence is about 0.005% of all cancers. Intrathyroidal location is rare, rendering preoperative diagnosis tedious. Until now, around 700 cases of PC have been documented, reportedly, among them, less than 21 cases of intrathyroidal parathyroid carcinoma have been described in the literature. We report a case of intrathyroidal PC that was taken for a suspicious thyroid nodule, with a literature review.PRESENTATION OF THE CASE: Our case is an asymptomatic intrathyroidal PC imitating a suspicious thyroid nodule, in a 54-year-old woman. A literature review was performed about clinical, radiological features, histopathological findings, and therapeutic options.

Discussion: The diagnosis of asymptomatic intrathyroidal parathyroid carcinoma, similar to our case report, is even more difficult, our patient had no symptoms of hypercalcemia. Surgery is the cornerstone of the treatment. A better chance to cure this disease is conditioned by complete surgical resection with negative margins microscopically, that was the case of our patient with a very good clinical course after 12 months of follow-up.

Keywords: Immunohistochemistry; Intra thyroidal parathyroid carcinoma; Thyroidectomy.