Graves' disease in a patient with ectopic mediastinal thyroid.

摘要

Abnormalities in the embryologic development and migration of the thyroid gland can result in ectopic thyroid tissue. Ectopic mediastinal goiters are somewhat uncommon developmental anomalies, accounting for less than 1% of all thyroid ectopies. Graves' disease within mediastinal goiter is a very rare entity, described only in few cases in English literature. Pretracheal thyroidectomy alone does not cure Graves' disease and can stimulate growth of the ectopic tissue in such cases.