Ectopic Cervical Thyroid Tissue Affected by Fibrosing Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis Mimicking Multifocal Metastatic Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma—A Hard Lesson Learnt from an Unusual Case

We describe a case of ectopic cervical thyroid tissue which was involved by fibrosing Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and which mimicked metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma both on fine needle aspiration cytology and biopsy. The patient underwent total thyroidectomy which revealed fibrosing Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, but no carcinoma. The entire thyroidectomy specimen was submitted for histopathological assessment. Even in the resected thyroidectomy specimen, there were cytological changes that were strongly reminiscent of papillary thyroid carcinoma. However, interpreted in the correct clinico-pathological context, these cytological alterations were deemed to be reactive secondary to the fibro-inflammatory process.