Surgical Treatment of Lingual Thyroid

Abstract

Objective: To describe 2 contrasting surgical approaches in the treatment of patients with a lingual thyroid.

Method: Case series from 2006 to 2008. Condition studied: lingual thyroid. Subjects and setting: Patients requiring surgery for lingual thyroid in a community hospital. Outcome measurements: recurrence, complications.

Results: A 33-year-old woman had a small lingual thyroid. Although she had no symptoms she was planning to become pregnant and it was felt that the lingual thyroid would increase in size with pregnancy and could result in airway obstruction. She therefore underwent transoral laser resection of the entire lingual thyroid. A 36-year-old woman had a large combined lingual and sublingual thyroid. She was unable to sleep lying down. She had previously undergone transoral debulking. She underwent a transcervical transhyoid partial pharyngectomy with resection of the entire lingual and sublingual thyroid. Both patients had no recurrence with mean follow-up of 9 months. There were no complications.

Conclusion: The treatment of lingual thyroid needs to be tailored to the clinical presentation. Surgery can be performed either through a transoral or transcervical approach depending on the extent of disease.