Abstract

AZEVEDO, Monalisa Ferreira  and  CASULARI, Luiz Augusto. Hyperfunctioning thyroid cancer: a five-year follow-up. Arq Bras Endocrinol Metab [online]. 2010, vol.54, n.1, pp. 78-80. ISSN 0004-2730.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0004-27302010000100013.

Differentiated thyroid cancer rarely occurs in association with hyperfunctioning nodules. We describe a case of a 47-year-old woman who developed symptoms of hyperthyroidism associated with a palpable thyroid nodule. Thyroid scintigraphy showed an autonomous nodule, and fine-needle aspiration biopsy was suggestive of papillary carcinoma. Laboratorial findings were consistent with the diagnosis of hyperthyroidism. The patient underwent thyroidectomy and a papillary carcinoma of 3.0 x 3.0 x 2.0 cm, follicular variant, was described by histological examination. The surrounding thyroid tissue was normal. Postoperatively, the patient received 100 mCi of ¹³¹I, and whole body scans detected only residual uptake. No evidence of metastasis was detected during five years of follow-up. Hot thyroid nodules rarely harbor malignancies, and this case illustrated that, when a carcinoma occurs the prognosis seems to be very good with no evidence of metastatic dissemination during a long-term follow-up.