Computed tomography of the thyroid bone, before it loops posteriorly and inferiorly to the hyoid bone. Then it continues its descent into the infra-hyoid portion of the neck, anterior to the trachea, thyroid cartilage, and thyroid membrane. Any thyroid residual along the descent course may lead to the development of ectopic thyroid glands. Thyroid carcinomas, thyroiditis, and goiter may develop within any ectopic thyroid tissue. Thyroid scanning with technetium-99 m (Tc99m) plays an important role in detecting orthotopic and ectopic thyroid tissue. Both CT scans and US can help detect ectopic tissue when a lesion demonstrates imaging and enhancement characteristics of thyroid tissue. The absence
Computed tomography of the thyroid with controversial management guidelines. Wilhelm et al. followed 41 patients with a known extra-thyroid malignancy and ITNs; 35 of them met the criterion for biopsy (nodule ≥ 1 cm). Pathology revealed four papillary thyroid cancers and five micropapillary thyroid cancers. Only two metastatic cancers were detected. Clinical history (history of radiation, age, endocrine syndromes), TSH, nodule size, and sonographic features are important to determine which nodule(s) should be followed or biopsied. However, existing guidelines do not specifically address how to approach ITNs detected on CT scans in such a specific patient population. Thyroid lymphoma represents about 5 % of thyroid