Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma with Malignant Pleural Effusion: Dilemma of Etiology

Abstract

AbstractPapillary carcinomas of thyroid generally have an indolent course with metastatic disease in less than 5% of patients. Common sites of distant metastasis include lung and bone. A presentation with malignant pleural effusion is exceedingly rare with only a handful of cases reported in literature. We present a case and discuss the treatment of a patient presenting of papillary thyroid cancer with a relapse of the disease in the pleural cavity. There are no standard treatment recommendations in this setting in view of paucity of published data from literature.