Laparoscopic Distal Pancreatectomy for Pancreatic Metastasis of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma—A Case Report—

Abstract

We report a case of pancreatic metastasis of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) that was resected via laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy (LDP). A 73-year-old woman underwent total thyroidectomy with radical neck-lymph-node resection for PTC. Multiple lung metastases appeared 5 years later and were controlled by thyroid-stimulating hormone suppression therapy. Tracheal metastasis was also treated via tracheal-wedge resection 7 years later. Computed tomography revealed a pancreatic-tail tumor, which was diagnosed as pancreatic metastasis of the PTC using endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration 14 years after the first surgery. Because the pancreatic metastasis grew expansively over a short term, we decided to perform surgery to improve her prognosis and quality of life. We performed LDP to remove the pancreatic metastasis. The postoperative course was uneventful, and she remains alive one year after the LDP. Radical resection could be safely performed via laparoscopic pancreatic surgery for pancreatic metastasis of thyroid cancer.