TWO patients with lingual thyroid have had autotransplantation of thyroid tissue in this hospital. The first patient, reported in 1952,1 underwent total excision of the lesion followed by a rapidly improvised attempt at autotransplantation. The latter was partially successful in that the autografts concentrated radioiodine. However, hormone secretion was inadequate for the maintenance of euthyroidism. Subsequently, experimental studies2 resulted in standardization of surgical techniques required for successful thyroid autotransplantation, so that we were better prepared to undertake this procedure again when the second case of lingual thyroid was encountered in 1954. The procedure used in the latter patient and the results observed over a three-year period of follow-up were reported in 1958.3 This paper describes the patient's course and the fate of the autograft over a 12-year period following transplantation.
Report of Case
A 7-year-old girl was admitted to the Colorado General Hospital in October 1954 because