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Background: The knowledge of various morphological & developmental anomalies of thyroid gland will help the surgeons in better planning of safe & effective surgery. Considering these facts we studied the variations of thyroid gland. Methods: The material for the present study was collected from the department of forensic medicine, MMC & RI, Mysore, which includes 56 male and 33 female adult postmortem cadavers aged between 18 to 80 years. A dissection was carried out to expose thyroid glands & variations were observed in the morphology of thyroid gland. Results: 1) 9% of specimens had agenesis of isthmus. 2) 46% of specimens had pyramidal lobe. 3) 41% of specimens had levator glanduli thyroidae. 4) 2.24 % of specimens had accessory thyroid tissue. Conclusion: This study highlights the various morphological anomalies of the thyroid gland which forms cornerstone to safe & effective surgery.

Functional imaging using radionuclide Tc99m pertechnetate is routinely used in the evaluation of the problems related to the thyroid gland. Scintiscan has been useful in the visualization of thyroid tissue in ectopic sites due to congenital developmental anomalies. Similarly, the scan helps in establishing the diagnosis of autonomously functioning nodule when the nodule being evaluated appears “hot” with suppression of rest of the gland activity. Here, we present a very rare case of autonomously functioning thyroid adenoma in an ectopic focus of accessory thyroid tissue in the mediastinum.

1. Following thyroidectomy in guinea pigs, there is a gradual elevation of the surface tension of the blood plasma which reaches its height in from 19 to 22 days after operation. This elevation is probably permanent, since we have found it to persist for as long as 120 days. 2. In our experiments, we found a few thyroidectomized animals in which the surface tension of the plasma was still within normal limits 24 and 120 days after operation. We suggest that these exceptions are due to three possible factors: (1) incomplete thyroidectomy; (2) presence of accessory thyroid tissue; (3) compensatory activity on the part of other organs. 3. The surface tension of the plasma from operated animals is higher than that from controls in both the initial and 20 minute determinations, but the difference is greater at the 20 minute period. 4. The time-drop (difference between the initial and 20 minute determinations) is somewhat greater in the plasma from normal than in that from operated animals. 5. It is suggested that these changes are due to a decrease in the amount of certain normally occurring surface-active substances, the production of which is directly or indirectly dependent upon the thyroid gland.