The tongue is the most frequent ectopic location of the thyroid gland. Incidence of lingual thyroid varies between 1:3000 and 1:10,000.
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Surgical excision or radioiodine therapy can be effective treatments for lingual thyroid, but no treatment should be attempted before radioisotope scan has confirmed that there is adequate thyroid tissue in the neck. In those patients lacking thyroid tissue in the neck, the lingual thyroid could be excised and auto-transplanted in the neck region.
Most cases require no treatment.
Keeping TSH and Free T4 in a good range will avoid undue enlargement which can sometime result in respiratory distress
In the first month of life the anlage of the thyroid gland descends from the posterior dorsal midline of the tongue to its final position in the lower neck. The initial site of descent eventually becomes the foramen caecum, located in the midline at the junction of the anterior (oral) tongue and the tongue base.
If the embryonic gland does not descent normally, ectopic or residual thyroid tissue may be found between the foramen caecum and the epiglottis.
Rarely, parathyroid glands can be associated with the ectopic thyroid. Many patients with lingual thyroid lack thyroid tissue in the neck.
Surgical excision or radioiodine therapy can be effective treatments for lingual thyroid, but no treatment should be attempted before radioisotope scan has confirmed that there is adequate thyroid tissue in the neck. In those patients lacking thyroid tissue in the neck, the lingual thyroid could be excised and auto-transplanted in the neck region.
Most cases require no treatment.
Keeping TSH and Free T4 in a good range will avoid undue enlargement which can sometime result in respiratory distress
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