Editing Thyroid (section)

===Variation===
[[File:Sobo 1906 444.png|thumb|right|upright=0.85|Clear ''pyramidal lobe'' (center) as viewed from the front]]
There are many [[anatomical variation|variants]] in the size and shape of the thyroid gland, and in the position of the embedded parathyroid glands.{{sfn|Elsevier's|2007|p=342}}

Sometimes there is a third lobe present called the ''pyramidal lobe''.{{sfn|Elsevier's|2007|p=342}} When present, this lobe often stretches up to the hyoid bone from the thyroid isthmus and may be one to several divided lobes.{{sfn|Gray's Anatomy|2008|pp=462–4}} The presence of this lobe ranges in reported studies from 18.3%<ref name="MedJ">{{cite journal |vauthors=Cicekcibasi AE, Salbacak A, Seker M, Ziylan T, Tuncer I, Buyukmumcu M |date=April 2007 |title=Developmental variations and clinical importance of the fetal thyroid gland. A morphometric study |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17457471/ |url-status=live |journal=Saudi Medical Journal |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=524–8 |pmid=17457471 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605020835if_/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17457471/ |archive-date=5 June 2024 |access-date=6 October 2024}}</ref> to 44.6%.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kim DW, Jung SL, Baek JH, Kim J, Ryu JH, Na DG, Park SW, Kim JH, Sung JY, Lee Y, Rho MH | display-authors = 6 | title = The prevalence and features of thyroid pyramidal lobe, accessory thyroid, and ectopic thyroid as assessed by computed tomography: a multicenter study | journal = Thyroid | volume = 23 | issue = 1 | pages = 84–91 | date = January 2013 | pmid = 23031220 | doi = 10.1089/thy.2012.0253 }}</ref> It was shown to more often arise from the left side and occasionally separated.<ref name=MedJ/> The pyramidal lobe is also known as [[Pierre Lalouette|Lalouette's]] pyramid.<ref>{{cite book| first = William Alexander Newman | last = Dorland | veditors = Anderson DM | title = Dorland'sIllustrated Medical Dictionary | edition = 32nd |date=2012 |publisher=Elsevier Saunders |isbn=978-1-4160-6257-8 |pages=999 redirect to 1562}}</ref> The pyramidal lobe is a remnant of the [[thyroglossal duct]], which usually wastes away during the thyroid gland's descent.{{sfn|Elsevier's|2007|p=342}} Small accessory thyroid glands may in fact occur anywhere along the thyroglossal duct, from the [[foramen cecum (tongue)|foramen cecum]] of the tongue to the position of the thyroid in the adult.{{sfn|Gray's Anatomy|2008|pp=462–4}} A small horn at the back of the thyroid lobes, usually close to the recurrent laryngeal nerve and the inferior thyroid artery, is called [[Zuckerkandl's tubercle (thyroid gland)|Zuckerkandl's tubercle]].<ref name=PAGE2009 />

Other variants include a [[levator muscle of thyroid gland]], connecting the isthmus to the body of the [[hyoid bone]],{{sfn|Elsevier's|2007|p=342}} and the presence of the small [[thyroid ima artery]].{{sfn|Elsevier's|2007|p=342}}