see also: Thyroglossal Duct Cyst Embryology, Anatomy, and Treatment (video)
- Also known as ectopic thyroid tissue, thyroid dysgenesis (Alanazi et al. 2023)
- Thyroid tissue that is found in an abberant location in the base of the tongue (Cheng et al. 2019)
- Appears as a well-circumscribed midline or paramedian tongue mass, similar in density/signal to thyroid tissue (Cheng et al. 2019)
- Results from failure of embryonic thyroid migration from the foramen cecum to the pretracheal region (Cheng et al. 2019)
- Advanced cases may present with dysphonia, dysphagia, and upper airway obstruction (Cheng et al. 2019)
- 75% patients with lingual thyroid have no other thyroid tissue (Cheng et al. 2019)
- Prevalence is reported to be 1:100,000 to 1:300,000 (Kim et al. 2019)
- More common in females (Kim et al. 2019)
- On CT: high density without contrast due to natural iodine accumulation, homogenously enhances with contrast
- On MR: high signal with T1 and T2 when compared to muscle; enhancement on T1 post-contrast
References
Cheng TC, Lin YH. Lingual Thyroid. Ear Nose Throat J. 2020 Feb;99(2):122-123. doi: 10.1177/0145561319885714. Epub 2019 Dec 18. PMID: 31852241.
Alanazi SM, Limaiem F. Ectopic Thyroid. 2023 Jan 1. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023 Jan–. PMID: 30969714.
Kim YJ, Park JH. Lingual thyroid. QJM. 2019 Jul 1;112(7):541-542. doi: 10.1093/qjmed/hcy304. PMID: 30629249.