Surgical management of primary thyroid carcinoma arising in thyroglossal duct cyst: An experience of a single institution in Serbia

Thyroglossal duct cyst (TDC) carcinoma is a comparable rare entity and treatment strategies have not been standardized. Here, we report a favorable outcome of TDC carcinoma patients based on our therapeutic strategy. Twelve patients with TDC carcinoma treated in our department from 1986 to 2012 were enrolled. Ten patients underwent Sistrunk's procedure in other institutions and referred to our institution for re-operation after the diagnosis of TDC carcinoma and the remaining two underwent initial surgery in our institution. Eleven patients were diagnosed as papillary and one as follicular carcinoma originating from TDC. We performed total thyroidectomy for 11, and limited thyroidectomy for one patient. Three patients (25%) had carcinoma lesions in the thyroid. We routinely dissected level I bilaterally and 6 of 11 patients (55%) with papillary carcinoma-type TDC carcinoma had metastasis. Level II/III nodes were biopsied and if positive, we performed level II-IV dissection. Of the 5 patients positive for level II/III, 2 were also positive for level IV. For the 3 patients with synchronous carcinoma in the thyroid, we performed level VI dissection and two had metastasis in this level. To date, 1 patient showed a recurrence to the lung, but none of the patients in our series died of carcinoma. For surgery of TDC carcinoma, Sistrunk's procedure, total thyroidectomy with level I dissection is mandatory. Whether level II-IV dissection is performed depends on pathology of biopsied level II/III nodes. Level VI dissection is also recommended especially when carcinoma lesions are pre/intra operatively detected in the thyroid.