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 70 % of cases, the ectopic thyroid is the only functional thyroid tissue present in the body (Fig. 18). Ectopic thyroid tissue lateral to the orthotopic midline location is rare. The exact anatomical definition of this rare entity is debated in the literature. To avoid confusion, some authors define a lateral neck ectopic thyroid as any thyroid tissue superficial to the strap muscles with no midline continuity. The majority of lateral thyroid ectopia cases have been reported as lesions closely related to the strap muscles. There are few reported cases of ectopic lateral thyroid tissue in the submandibular region, jugulodigastric