Dormant metastases in medullary thyroid carcinoma. A case report.

Report on a patient in whom an extensively metastasizing medullary carcinoma of the thyroid was diagnosed at the age of 32 years. Noteworthy in her case history were watery diarrheas that had persisted for two years, suggesting that the medullary thyroid carcinoma had already existed for some time. Besides locoregional lymph node metastases, small foci of diffuse pulmonary metastases with lymphangitis carcinomatosa as well as osteoblastic skeletal metastases were present and intramammary metastases were detected later. The patient died from bilateral pleuropneumonia with empyema formation at the age of 47 years after an observation period of 15 years. During that period, no major changes in the pattern of metastatic spread were observed and one may therefore speak of "dormant" metastases in this case, although some manifestations showed increases and decreases in size.