Imaging diagnosis of thyroid gland congenital anomalies

The clinical and radiological findings in 25 patients presenting diverse thyroid gland anomalies are described, as follows: thyroid aplasia - 2, thyroid hemiagenesis - 9, lingual thyroid gland - 3, median cervical cysts - 8, lateral cervical aberrant tissue - 2, distant aberrant thyroid tissue - 1 case. In all patients the following methods are applied: echography, computer tomography and radionuclide examination with 99mTc. Conclusions are made that: 1) To make definite diagnosis of thyroid ectopia the complex application of imaging methods is mandatory. 2) Ultrasound examination is sufficient to establish agenesis, hypo- or hemiaplasia of the thyroidea without need to resort to other imaging modalities. 3) Ectopic thyroid tissue eventually discovered should be carefully monitored by echography and cytologically because of susceptibility of malignant degeneration