Follicular Variant of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Presenting with Thoracic Vertebral Metastasis: A Rare Phenomenon.

ABSTRACT

Follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma (FV-PTC) often follows nodal spread; and hematogenous spread is rare. A 77-year male presented to the Neurosurgery Outpatient Clinic with complaints and examination findings of spinal cord compression (SCC) by a mass at the 11th thoracic vertebra (T11). Subtotal mass excision, thoracic corpectomy with cage reconstruction, laminectomy, and posterior spinal stabilisation were performed. The patient, whose pathology result suggested follicular carcinoma metastasis, underwent total thyroidectomy two months after spinal surgery. The pathology of the thyroid was compatible with FV-PTC. Even four years after the total thyroidectomy, the neurological status of the patient was still stable and neither tumoral recurrence nor a new metastasis was detected. In the literature, the number of cases with FV-PTC presenting with SCC due to spinal metastasis is limited. Key Words Thoracic vertebrae, Metastasis, Papillary thyroid carcinoma, Spinal cord compression.