Clinical Benefit of Radioiodine Administration in a Rare Case of Iodine Avid Thyroid Carcinoma with No Secretion of Thyroglobulin.

Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) is the most common endocrine cancer and its outcome is usually favorable. Its basic treatment is well codified, but its monitoring is much less. The value of thyroglobulin (Tg) is one of the main elements for monitoring DTC, while the use of iodine scintigraphy is becoming less recommended. In this case report, we discuss a clinical situation where a patient presented differentiated thyroid metastatic lesions confirmed by biopsy, uptaking radioactive iodine, with undetectable levels of Tg (in the absence of autoantibodies). We discuss the various hypotheses explaining this clinical situation, the potential advantages of performing periodic iodine scintigraphy in some intermediate and high-risk patients and report the documented clinical benefit of radioiodine therapy.

[Disseminated cryptococcosis in an immunocompetent patient]. / Cryptococcose disséminée chez un patient immunocompétent.

Disseminated cryptococcosis is a serious opportunistic fungal infection caused by a yeast-encapsulated fungus of the genus Cryptococcus neoformans. It occurs most often in patients with a significant deficit of cellular immunity and preferentially affects the central nervous system. The skin and the lungs are the most commonly affected sites outside the neuro-subarachnoid location. We report the case of a patient apparently immunocompetent who had a disseminated cryptococcosis. The disease started with the multiple purplish skin lesions, large umbilicated on the face, groin, forearm and leg with progressively increasing volume. This symptomatology had evolved in the context of weight loss and poor general condition. The diagnosis was established by the presence of cryptococcal at the skin biopsy and cerebrospinal fluid. Research of immunosuppression common pathologies were negative. Treatment was initiated based on amphotericin B for 40 days. The patient's condition deteriorates onset of paraplegia and swallowing disorders causing death in an array of cachexia. This observation points out that disseminated cryptococcosis can occur in an immunocompetent patient. The skin lesions may be the first sign of the disease.

[Follicular thyroid carcinoma: metastasis to unusual skin locations]. / Carcinome vésiculaire de la thyroïde avec métastases cutanées de localisations inhabituelles.

INTRODUCTION: Cutaneous metastasis of thyroid cancer is rare. When it occurs, it usually affects the scalp and neck. We report here a case where follicular thyroid carcinoma metastasized to unusual skin locations. CASE: An 82-year-old woman was followed after a total thyroidectomy for follicular thyroid carcinoma. Assessment after 2 years showed the presence of a small cervical residue, pulmonary metastases, and a high thyroglobulin level. Two sets of internal radiation therapy with iodine 131 (100 mCi each) followed. Response to treatment was poor, and cutaneous and subcutaneous nodules appeared on the abdomen, back, and front left thigh. Biopsy of these lesions showed that they were malignant, and testing with anti-thyroglobulin antibodies confirmed the diagnosis of cutaneous metastasis of follicular thyroid carcinoma. DISCUSSION: Although the rare cutaneous metastases of follicular thyroid carcinoma usually occur on the scalp, firm nodular cutaneous lesions that are painless and resist standard treatment in patients with a history of thyroid cancer should suggest the possibility of metastasis.