A 72-YEAR-OLD WOMAN complained of a recent soft mass on the left side of her neck. She described a 2-cm mass just medial to the lower portion of the left sternocleidomastoid muscle, but the results of the physical examination were unremarkable. With a 7- to 8-mHz curvilinear array transducer, an ultrasound examination was performed in the office setting that showed a 1.5-cm hypoechoic lesion, posterior to the left lobe of the thyroid gland and anterolateral to the esophagus. The ultrasound showed a lesion containing a central hyperechoic area associated with a comet-tail artifact (Figure 1).
A.Abscess of the thyroid gland