Nodular hyperplasia, black thyroid, and chronic minocycline ingestion in a teenager
D. L. Folsom, M. W. Gauderer and W. T. Dahms
Department of Surgery, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
An 18-year-old man with left-lobe thyroid hemiagenesis underwent
isthmectomy for management of a nodule that failed to take up radioactive
iodine during a nuclear scan. The resected tissue, which demonstrated
nodular hyperplasia, and the remaining right lobe, were black. The
association between deep staining and chronic minocycline ingestion was
subsequently recognized. Twelve years later, the patient remained
asymptomatic, suggesting that complete resection of tetracycline-stained
thyroid tissue is unnecessary.