Objective:
To describe a rare case of acute presentation of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).
Clinical presentation and intervention:
A 19-year-old male presented with an expanding cervical mass following blunt trauma. A computed tomography scan revealed a mass suspected to be hematoma that was compressing the vessels and thereby deviating the trachea. Immediate surgery was performed. Neither vascular injury nor active bleeding was seen; instead, a solid, hematoma-like tumefaction in the right thyroid lobe was revealed. A total thyroid lobectomy was performed. A histologic paraffin section confirmed a PTC that was permeated by hematoma.
Conclusion:
This was a unique case of an acute, life-threatening presentation of previously asymptomatic PTC in an adolescent.