Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jul 16, 2016; 4(7): 187-190
Published online Jul 16, 2016. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v4.i7.187
Extensive laryngeal infiltration from a neglected papillary thyroid carcinoma: A case report
Fanourios Georgiades, George Vasiliou, Efthimios Kyrodimos, Giannis Thrasyvoulou
Fanourios Georgiades, St George’s, University of London at the University of Nicosia, 2408 Nicosia, Cyprus
George Vasiliou, Giannis Thrasyvoulou, ENT Department, Nicosia General Hospital, 2029 Nicosia, Cyprus
Efthimios Kyrodimos, ENT Department, Hippokration Hospital, Athens Medical School, 11527 Athens, Greece
Author contributions: Georgiades F, Vasiliou G and Thrasyvoulou G collected data and prepared figures; Kyrodimos E contributed to the correction and review of the manuscript; Georgiades F and Thrasyvoulou G wrote the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The above mentioned study was reviewed and approved by the Nicosia General Hospital Institutional Review Board.
Informed consent statement: The patient involved in this study gave her written informed consent authorizing use and disclosure of her protected health information.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no known conflict of interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Fanourios Georgiades, BSc(Hons), MSc, MBBS, St George’s, University of London at the University of Nicosia, Medical School, 93, Agiou Nikolaou Street, Engomi, 2408 Nicosia, Cyprus. georgiades.f@live.sgul.ac.cy
Telephone: +357-99-769696 Fax: +357-25-350061
Received: February 29, 2016
Peer-review started: February 29, 2016
First decision: April 15, 2016
Revised: April 28, 2016
Accepted: May 17, 2016
Article in press: May 27, 2016
Published online: July 16, 2016
Abstract

Papillary carcinoma of the thyroid is the commonest type of thyroid cancer. Laryngeal infiltration from papillary thyroid carcinoma is extremely rare, with only a few cases of partial invasion described in the literature. We present a very unusual case of complete infiltration of both thyroid and cricoid cartilages from a neglected papillary thyroid carcinoma in a 59-year-old male. This sequel resulted from refusal of the patient to undergo treatment when initially diagnosed. An invasion to such an extent has not been described in the literature before, and in this case warranted a total laryngectomy followed by radioactive iodine. Prompt management of papillary carcinomas is crucial for avoiding such complications. Future guidelines should include management options for the patients who deny treatment initially.

Keywords: Papillary thyroid carcinoma, Laryngeal infiltration, Cricoid cartilage, Management, Complications

Core tip: Aerodigestive tract invasion from a differentiated thyroid cancer is a very rare complication. This is the first case in the literature describing an infiltration to the thyroid and cricoid cartilages to such an extent, requiring a total laryngectomy followed by radioactive iodine treatment. Future guidelines should include management options for patients who refuse treatment during the initial stages of the disease.