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Clinical Problem Solving: Radiology
August 18, 2008

Radiology Quiz Case: Diagnosis

Author Affiliations
 

PATRICIA A.HUDGINSMD

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2008;134(8):896. doi:10.1001/archotol.134.8.896

Histopathologic examination of an ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) specimen from an enlarged area of the thyroid isthmus demonstrated foreign crystaloid material (Figure 4, A) arranged in patterns that resembled an elongated or wrinkled 50-μm-diameter ball. Surrounding these crystals, there were groups of follicular cells, multinucleated giant cells (Figure 4, B), and fibrous tissue. Based on this description, a diagnosis of thyroid teflonoma was suggested. Following the pathology report, an archive inquiry was done at the hospital in which the laryngoscopy had taken place 24 years earlier. The patient had indeed undergone a Teflon injection for vocal cord paralysis.

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