Thyroid tissue may be localized at various levels in the midline of the neck in the region between the foramen ceacum and the sternal notch. Thyroid tissue can also be found in remote structures that were associated with the thyroid anlage during development. Thyroid tissue is rarely detected in the the lateral neck, such as in the submandibular region. Ectopic thyroid tissue may be subject to the same pathological processes as normal eutopic thyroid tissue, including inflammation, hyperplasia, and tumorigenesis. We present a case of ectopic thyroid tissue located in the left submandibular region in a patient that underwent total thyroidectomy 30 years previously.
Keywords: Ectopic thyroid, neck mass, thyroiditis