Symptom Finder - Neck Mass
Neck Mass
Differentiating a neck mass that is thyroid tissue from an enlarged lymph node or other mass is no problem. The thyroid mass moves when the
patient swallows. A diffuse thyroid mass can be further identified as Graves disease by looking for tremor, tachycardia, and exophthalmos. A
toxic adenoma can be differentiated from a nontoxic nodule in a like manner, except the exophthalmos is not as pronounced. In Graves disease,
there may be a bruit over the thyroid as well. Another neck mass that moves when the patient swallows is the thyroglossal duct cyst, but it is
always in the midline. It is possible to distinguish a Zenker diverticulum by noting the increase in size when the patient swallows liquid.
The experienced clinician knows that a metastatic neoplasm of the cervical lymph nodes can be differentiated from Hodgkin disease by the
fact that the metastatic neoplasm is hard whereas the lymph node hypertrophy of Hodgkin lymphoma is softer and rubbery. Transillumination may be used to help differentiate a colloid cyst of the thyroid and a thyroglossal cyst, but a negative result does not rule out either condition.
Differentiating a neck mass that is thyroid tissue from an enlarged lymph node or other mass is no problem. The thyroid mass moves when the
patient swallows. A diffuse thyroid mass can be further identified as Graves disease by looking for tremor, tachycardia, and exophthalmos. A
toxic adenoma can be differentiated from a nontoxic nodule in a like manner, except the exophthalmos is not as pronounced. In Graves disease,
there may be a bruit over the thyroid as well. Another neck mass that moves when the patient swallows is the thyroglossal duct cyst, but it is
always in the midline. It is possible to distinguish a Zenker diverticulum by noting the increase in size when the patient swallows liquid.
The experienced clinician knows that a metastatic neoplasm of the cervical lymph nodes can be differentiated from Hodgkin disease by the
fact that the metastatic neoplasm is hard whereas the lymph node hypertrophy of Hodgkin lymphoma is softer and rubbery. Transillumination may be used to help differentiate a colloid cyst of the thyroid and a thyroglossal cyst, but a negative result does not rule out either condition.
