African Journal of Medical Case Reports ISSN 2756-3316 Vol. 10 (5), pp. 001-004, May, 2022. © International Scholars Journals

Case Report

Development of Thyroid Associated Eye Disease After Total Thyroidectomy for Recurrent Papillary Thyroid Cancer

Nandi Shah¹, Omid Kohannim², Julie Bykowski³, Bobby Korn⁴ and Karen McCowen⁵

¹Stanford University, United States.

²University of California, San Diego, United States.

Accepted 16 March, 2022

Abstract

A 50-year-old woman with locally advanced papillary thyroid cancer was treated with total thyroidectomy, left neck dissection and radioactive iodine ablation. She presented with nodal neck metastases two years later and underwent a radical neck dissection with curative intent. Sixteen months after that, she developed new onset thyroid eye disease in association with elevated thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin. It is extremely rare to develop thyroid eye disease in an athyreotic patient. She has had no visible papillary thyroid cancer recurrence on anatomic imaging for the subsequent 24 months, however the appearance and persistence of thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin remains a concern for thyroid cancer recurrence, and close follow up is indicated.

Keywords: Thyroid eye disease, Graves’ disease, papillary thyroid cancer, orbital fibroblasts.