Abstract
Hürthle cell carcinoma is a rare variant of differentiated thyroid cancer and occasionally
generates distant metastases. There are few reports of Hürthle cell carcinoma metastases
to the vertebral column and none with sacral involvement. Here, we report a 48-year-old
woman with a 2-year history of moderate low back pain, alleviated with analgesic medication.
Her previous medical files were unremarkable. She performed medical evaluation, and
a magnetic resonance of lumbar spine revealed a solitary hypointense T2 lesion on
the left lamina of S1. The patient was submitted to percutaneous biopsy that displayed
carcinomatous pattern compatible with Hürthle cell carcinoma of thyroid. After that,
she was submitted to thyroid ultrasound that showed a nodule. Even in the presence
of metastases, patients with Hürthle cell carcinoma usually have a relatively good
prognosis. We discuss aspects of the diagnosis, management, and surgical treatment
of metastatic Hürthle cell carcinoma in reference to the literature.
Keywords
low back pain - spinal diseases - neoplasm metastasis
