Published in:
01-03-2016 | Case Report
Unexpected Tumor: Primary Asymptomatic Schwannoma in Thyroid Gland
Authors:
G. Vázquez-Benítez, A. Pérez-Campos, N. Alberti Masgrau, A. Pérez-Barrios
Published in:
Endocrine Pathology
|
Issue 1/2016
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Abstract
The discovery of a tumor as a primary schwannoma in the thyroid gland is rare (Andrion et al. in Virchows Arch 413:367–372,
1988). It represents less than 1 % of mesenchymal neoplasms of this gland. Therefore, few cases of this type are described in medical literature (Aron et al. in Cytopathology 16:206–209,
2005; Cashman et al. in Medscape J Med 10(8):201,
2008; Coleman et al. in AJR Am J Roentgenol 140:383–7,
1983). In this article, we introduce the clinical case of a 27-year-old female patient, who presented a nodular mass located in the neck region. This mass was not associated with other symptoms and during the imagistic investigation it appeared to be a thyroglossal duct cyst. A fine needle aspiration biopsy was performed which revealed benign mesenchymal cells. After a pathology study of the piece resected through a thyroidectomy, it was confirmed that the tumor had neural characteristics, the final diagnosis being a primary schwannoma. The importance of a cytology study is emphasized, since in this case, it made it possible to accurately diagnose a mesenchymal tumor, despite their low frequency. It constitutes a highly useful tool for diagnosing non-epithelial neoplasia of the thyroid gland.