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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Radiology Case Reports

Recurrent papillary thyroid carcinoma with brachiocephalic vein tumor thrombus: A rare case report

  • Seyed Zeynab Seyedjavadeyn1
  • Mohammad Shirkhoda1
  • Amirmohsen Jalaeefar2
  • Asma Shafaeipour3
  • Bahman Rasuli4
4 affiliations
  1. 1Department of General Surgery, Subdivision of Surgical Oncology, Cancer Institute of Iran, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  2. 2Department of Surgical Oncology, Subdivision of Surgical Oncology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Cancer Institute, Tehran, Iran
  3. 3Department of General Surgery, Subdivision of Surgical Oncology, Cancer Research Center, Cancer Institute of Iran, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  4. 4Department of Radiology, Arman International Hospital, Jame Jam Imaging Center, Tehran, Iran
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Abstract

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) generally has an excellent prognosis and an indolent clinical course. However, major vascular invasion with tumor thrombus formation is exceedingly rare. We report the case of a 63-year-old woman with recurrent PTC presenting five years after total thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine therapy.

Contrast-enhanced CT demonstrated recurrent disease within the thyroidectomy bed, extensive cervical nodal metastases, retrosternal extension, pulmonary nodules, and tumor thrombus involving the left brachiocephalic vein near the SVC junction.

The patient underwent extensive surgical management, including left modified neck dissection, median sternotomy, en bloc resection of recurrent disease, thrombectomy, and primary repair of the brachiocephalic vein. Histopathological examination confirmed recurrent papillary thyroid carcinoma with vascular tumor thrombosis. Postoperatively, the patient received adjuvant radioactive iodine therapy.

At 12-month follow-up, serum thyroglobulin levels were undetectable, and imaging studies demonstrated no evidence of locoregional recurrence. This case highlights a rare and aggressive presentation of recurrent PTC with major venous involvement and demonstrates that satisfactory short-term disease control can be achieved through aggressive multidisciplinary management.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{seyedjavadeyn2026recurrent,
  title = {{Recurrent papillary thyroid carcinoma with brachiocephalic vein tumor thrombus: A rare case report}},
  author = {Seyed Zeynab Seyedjavadeyn and Mohammad Shirkhoda and Amirmohsen Jalaeefar and Asma Shafaeipour and Bahman Rasuli},
  journal = {Radiology Case Reports},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.radcr.2026.10.002},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radcr.2026.10.002},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Recurrent papillary thyroid carcinoma with brachiocephalic vein tumor thrombus: A rare case report
AU  - Seyed Zeynab Seyedjavadeyn
AU  - Mohammad Shirkhoda
AU  - Amirmohsen Jalaeefar
AU  - Asma Shafaeipour
AU  - Bahman Rasuli
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/27
JO  - Radiology Case Reports
DO  - 10.1016/j.radcr.2026.10.002
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radcr.2026.10.002
AB  - Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) generally has an excellent prognosis and an indolent clinical course. However, major vascular invasion with tumor thrombus formation is exceedingly rare. We report the case of a 63-year-old woman with recurrent PTC presenting five years after total thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine therapy.  Contrast-enhanced CT demonstrated recurrent disease within the thyroidectomy bed, extensive cervical nodal metastases, retrosternal extension, pulmonary nodules, and tumor thrombus involving the left brachiocephalic vein near the SVC junction.  The patient underwent extensive surgical management, including left modified neck dissection, median sternotomy, en bloc resection of recurrent disease, thrombectomy, and primary repair of the brachiocephalic vein. Histopathological examination confirmed recurrent papillary thyroid carcinoma with vascular tumor thrombosis. Postoperatively, the patient received adjuvant radioactive iodine therapy.  At 12-month follow-up, serum thyroglobulin levels were undetectable, and imaging studies demonstrated no evidence of locoregional recurrence. This case highlights a rare and aggressive presentation of recurrent PTC with major venous involvement and demonstrates that satisfactory short-term disease control can be achieved through aggressive multidisciplinary management.
SN  - 1930-0433
ER  -