Bulletin of Stomatology and Maxillofacial Surgery
ISSN 1829-006X
2025; 266–269
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METASTATIC PAPILLARY THYROID CARCINOMA IN A BRANCHIAL CYST – CASE REPORT

Nimalan Premkumar*, Sithumi Nanayakkara, Ananda Rathnayake, Suresh Shanmuganathan

Registrar in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Post-graduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri- Lanka · 2Dental Surgeon, Ministry of Health, Sri-Lanka · Senior Lecturer, Department of Oral Surgery, Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri- Lank · Senior Lecturer, Department of Oral Surgery, Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri- Lanka

Received: 2026-04-08 · Published: 2025-05-30

© 2025 The Author(s) and the original publisher.

CC BY-NC 4.0 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
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Original title
METASTATIC PAPILLARY THYROID CARCINOMA IN A BRANCHIAL CYST – CASE REPORT
Authors
Nimalan Premkumar, Sithumi Nanayakkara, Ananda Rathnayake, Suresh Shanmuganathan
Source journal
Bulletin of Stomatology and Maxillofacial Surgery
Published
2025-05-30
Licence
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
Original
https://doi.org/10.58240/1829006X-2025.21.4-266

Abstract

A rare case of metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma, incidentally, found within a branchial cyst was reported in a teaching hospital, Kalutara, Sri-Lanka. A 37-year-old female presented with left side lateral neck lump of 4 years duration. Physical examination revealed a solitary, palpable, painless movable neck lump. Both ultrasound scan and fine needle aspiration cytology were suggestive of a branchial cyst. Excisional biopsy revealed that it was a papillary thyroid carcinoma metastatic to/ arising from a branchial cyst. Thyroid Fine needle aspiration biopsy confirmed a left thyroid nodule with suspicious smears (Thy 4/Bethesda). Patient underwent total thyroidectomy histopathology confirmed presence of Papillary Thyroid carcinoma. Branchial cysts are the most common lateral neck masses. Although it is a benign lesion, rarely, it is possible to find unexpected malignancy within it. During the diagnostic phase, it should be kept in mind that this could be a metastatic lesion from a distant primary or an occult thyroid primary cancer within the branchial cyst. A thorough investigation would help identification of such malignancy and early intervention gives less trouble to both patient and clinician.
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