The arteries of the lingual thyroid: angiographic findings and anatomic variations.

A 22-year-old man presented with a 6-month history of dysphagia to solid food and intermittent spitting of blood for about 1 year. A lateral radiograph of the neck revealed a well-defined soft-tissue mass at the base of the tongue, compromising the oropharynx. After a series of tests, which included CT (Fig. 1) and radionuclide scintigraphy, the diagnosis of lingual thyroid was made. A thyroid profile showed normal levels of T3 and T4; thyroid binding globulin was normal [2]. A selective external carotid angiogram was performed with the view that embolization or partial surgical removal may be required if suppression of the thyroid function failed to shrink the gland to a degree that cured the dysphagia. At angiography, the superior thyroid arteries were absent and the superior laryngeals originated directly