A Case of Thyroid Follicular Carcinoma Metastatic to the Petrous Bone

ABSTRACT

Among thyroid cancer patients, metastatic skull bone is rare, especially in the skull base region. The authors describe the case of a 42-year-old man with thyroid follicular carcinoma which metastasized to the left petrous bone. During the previous year, the patient had suffered from left tinnitus, hearing loss and peripheral facial nerve palsy; An CT and MRI scans demonstrated severe permeative bone destruction, as well as an enhancing soft tissue mass in the left petrous bone. Left carotid angiography revealed multiple feeding vessels, mainly via the occipital and superior laryngeal artery. The feeders were occluded by intra-arterial embolization with N-butylcyanoacrylate(NBCA). The patient underwent subtotal petrosectomy with near total removal of the tumor, followed by total thyroidectomy. He returned to work one month postoperatively and showed no evidence of recurrence during the follow-up period of seven months.