ABSTRACT
Papillary thyroid carcinomas comprise approximately 80 percent of all thyroid cancers, but haves a good prognosis, with overall survival rates at 10 years of about 80 to 95 percent. They spreads through the lymphatic system, and the lung is the most frequent metastasis site. If distant metastasis is present, the overall survival rate is about 40 percent. Although malignant pleural effusion, with pleural metastasis is a rare complication in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma, the development of malignant pleural effusion is an extremely adverse prognostic indicator. We recently experienced a case of malignant pleural effusion with papillary thyroid carcinoma. A 54-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of dyspnea. A chest X-ray showed massive pleural effusion in the right hemithorax. Previously total thyroidectomy, and iodine-131 therapy had been performed, but a local recurrence and pulmonary metastasis developed 5 years later, accompanied by malignant pleural effusion with pleural metastasis. We performed diagnostic thoracentesis, which confirmed a metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma. This patient was a rare case of paplillary thyroid carcinoma, in which the disease was represented by a rapid deterioration with malignant pleural effusion. So we report this case with a review of the literature.