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In 2007, a 56-year-old Nigerian woman presented for surgical excision of recurrent thyroid cancer prior to [sup.131]I ablation. She had undergone thyroidectomy 12 years earlier for thyroid cancer. She had experienced a recurrence in 2003 that was treated surgically and another recurrence in 2005 for which she refused surgical intervention.

Physical examination revealed the presence of a large left-sided thyroid mass and areas of extension into the subdermis, inferiorly to the clavicle, medially to the midline of the neck, laterally to the sternoclei-domastoid muscle, and superiorly to the level of the thyroid cartilage (figure 1). Laryngoscopy ...