Left thyroid agenesis case study

Abstract

Thyroid hemiagenesis is a rare congenital anomaly, more commonly affecting the left lobe of the thyroid. There is only one case reported in Saudi Arabia in Annals Saudi journals 1997, and this will be the second case to be reported in Saudi. Here, we present a 67-year-old woman with the left thyroid lobe agenesis and multinodular goiter in the right thyroid lobe. The condition was discovered during preoperative preparation for tracheostomy, which showed euthyroid (in laboratory measurements) and an enlarged right large thyroid lobe extending up to cervical vertebra 2 and the retrosternal area (in computed tomography images). The patient underwent total thyroidectomy and tracheostomy. Postoperative thyroid scan and histopathology results confirmed the diagnosis. It is a rare anomaly, with most patients asymptomatic. Consequently, cases may not be readily diagnosed.