The thyroid gland is usually located in the anterior neck region between the second and fourth tracheal cartilages. An ectopic thyroid refers to the presence of thyroid tissue in other locations. Its reported prevalence is 1 per 100,000–300,000people and 1 per 4,000–8,000 patients with thyroid diseases.
This report describes the case of a 51-year-old woman with an ectopic thyroid in the form of a large mass on the base of the tongue with repeated hematemesis. To reduce the bleeding, embolization of the main feeding artery was performed before surgical intervention. As a result, the surgery was successfully performed via the intraoral approach without much bleeding. Thus, embolization before surgical treatment for an ectopic thyroid on the base of the tongue was demonstrated to be an effective therapeutic strategy.
