BACKGROUND Thyroid gland derives from one median anlage at the base of the tongue, and from the two fourth branchial pouches. A number of anomalies may occur during their migration. These can be in form of ectopic tissues, which are frequently found along the course of thyroglossal duct and rarely in other sites, many of these may develop same diseases as the thyroid gland. CASE PRESENTATION ...

A woman with ectopic intracardiac thyroid tissue showing features of a colloid storage goitre presented with ventricular tachycardias and signs of right ventricular outflow obstruction. As the tumour was benign and removed at necropsy, the results of surgery are likely to have been good, but she died from a cardiac arrest before operation.

Permanent primary congenital hypothyroidism (CH), the commonest cause of preventable intellectual disability, is due to defects in the embryonic development of the thyroid in the vast majority of cases. These defects are collectively called thyroid dysgenesis. The thyroid may be absent (athyreosis) but, more commonly, a sublingual thyroid ectopy without lateral lobes, is the only thyroid tissue...

Though 'lingual thyroid' has been an accepted term for many years, precise terminology might be served better by the use of ectopia to indicate those cases-the majority-in which no thyroid tissue exists in the orthotopic (prelaryngeal) site, the prefix lingual indicating the site of ectopia. Ectopia also serves to describe the situation in which a 'thyroglossal cyst' is solid and represents the...

Though 'lingual thyroid' has been an accepted term for many years, precise terminology might be served better by the use of ectopia to indicate those cases-the majority-in which no thyroid tissue exists in the orthotopic (prelaryngeal) site, the prefix lingual indicating the site of ectopia. Ectopia also serves to describe the situation in which a 'thyroglossal cyst' is solid and represents the...