Zenker's Diverticulum Suspected to be a Thyroid Nodule Diagnosed on Fine Needle Aspiration: A Case Report

Zenker’s diverticulum is mimicking thyroid nodule on ultrasonograhy (US). Therefore, it has risk of fine needle aspiration (FNA) on that lesion. There are only four case reports in the literature of fine needle aspiration of Zenker’s diverticula masquerading as a thyroid nodule. We report a case of Zenker's dverticulitum suspected to be a thyroid nodule on US and performed US-guided FNA with examination of cytology in this patient. A 53-yr-old woman was referred to our center for FNA of a thyroid nodule. The thyroid US demonstrated a 1.3 × 1.6 cm, poorly-defined nodule containing multiple echogenic foci in the posterior medial aspect of the left thyroid. We performed US-guided FNA on that lesion. Papanicolaou stain showed squamous epithelial cells and numerous bacilli. We diagnosed this patient as having a Zenker’s diverticulum, and this was confirmed by esophagram. J Med Cases. 2012;3(4):261-263 doi: https://doi.org/10.4021/jmc635e