Gossypiboma of the Neck Mimicking an Isolated Neck Recurrence
A 53-year-old woman was referred to our head and neck cancer clinic for an asymptomatic neck mass in the left supraclavicular area growing over the past 2 months. She had a history of a total thyroidectomy with a left lateral neck dissection for papillary thyroid cancer at another hospital 6 months prior.\nA physical examination revealed a neck mass approximately 3×4 cm in size on the same side of previous neck dissection. Computed tomography showed the inhomogeneous, low-density mass with an enhanced surrounding capsule (). Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) demonstrated the rim-shaped fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake with the central nidus without FDG uptake ().\nFine-needle aspiration cytology remained inconclusive without any malignant cells. However, we considered it as a neck recurrence following previous neck dissection and thus planned to perform a salvage modified radical neck dissection. A well-encapsulated hard mass was noted between the common carotid artery and internal jugular vein. It was displacing the carotid artery to the posterior-medial side and adherent to the internal jugular vein. The mass was completely removed by salvage neck dissection.\nGross appearance of the resected specimen revealed a fibrotic mass lesion containing a surgical sponge (). A microscopic examination revealed foreign body reaction and fibrosis surrounding the surgical sponge (). It was finally diagnosed as gossypiboma by a pathological examination.