The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 50, 133-135, Copyright © 1990 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Retrotracheal goiter: a diagnostic and therapeutic problem
D Waldron, J Coffey, S Murphy, E Bresnihan, P Finnegan and V Lynch
Department of Thoracic Surgery, St. Vincent's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
A patient with chronic cough and recent dysphagia was found to have a
retrotracheal mass extending into the visceral mediastinum on chest
roentgenogram. A computed tomographic scan confirmed a retrotracheal
lesion, which was believed to be of lymphatic origin. A thyroid scan
demonstrated downward displacement of the left lobe but little uptake in
the mass. Histological findings of mediastinal biopsies were inconclusive.
A large retrotracheal thyroid adenoma was easily excised through a right
thoracotomy. The approach to diagnosis and, in cases of doubt, the safety
of surgical access through thoracotomy for thyroid lesions in this unusual
site is discussed.