Images in Clinical Medicine

Obstructive Lingual Thyroid

Andreas Barthel, M.D., and Stefan R. Bornstein, M.D., Ph.D.

N Engl J Med 2005; 352:e1January 6, 2005

• Slide

Article

A 43-year-old woman who was undergoing surgery could not be intubated for the administration of anesthesia because of an unusually narrow oropharynx. Ultrasonography showed a round, solid tumor about 3 cm in diameter at the base of the tongue — a finding that was verified by scintigraphy with technetium-99m labeling, as performed by the Department of Nuclear Medicine, as a lingual thyroid. Although it is not a commonly performed procedure, ablation with iodine-131 appears to be a safe and effective therapeutic alternative to surgery in patients with a benign symptomatic lingual thyroid. The patient underwent successful radioablation and has done well while receiving thyroid hormone–replacement therapy.

Andreas Barthel, M.D.
University Hospital Duesseldorf, D-40225 Duesseldorf, Germany

Stefan R. Bornstein, M.D., Ph.D.
Technical University Dresden, D-01307 Dresden, Germany

Citing Articles (4)

Citing Articles

1. 1

   Jessica M. McIlvane, Mihaela A. Popa, Bruce Robinson, Kathleen Houseweart, William E. Haley. (2008) Perceptions of Illness, Coping, and Well-being in Persons With Mild Cognitive Impairment and Their Care Partners. Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders 22:3, 284-292
   CrossRef

2. 2

   Peter V Rabins, Constantine G Lyketsos. (2006) Cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine have a role in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Nature Clinical Practice Neurology 2:11, 578-579
   CrossRef

3. 3

   Maria P. Solano, Ronald B. Goldberg. (2006) Management of Dyslipidemia in Diabetes. Cardiology in Review 14:3, 125-135
   CrossRef

4. 4

   Por Antoni Parada, Por Antoni Parada. (2005) Open access and the future of biomedical publishing: a many-edged figure. El Profesional de la Informacion 14:5, 326-334
   CrossRef