Jae Seok Jeon, Won Bae Kim, Hae Young Park, Young Joo Park, Hyun Kyung Chung, Sang Jeon Choi, Chan Soo Shin, Kyoung Soo Park, Seong Yeon Kim, Bo Youn Cho, Hong Kyu Lee, Chang Soon Koh
J Korean Endocr Soc. 1996;11(4):438-446. Published online November 7, 2019
Background Subacute thyroiditis is a spontaneously resolving inflammatory disorder of thyroid gland, usually associated with painful goiter and short-lived thyrotoxicosis. Although its etiology is yet to be established, much evidence suggests viral infections and genetic factors play important roles. Usually, both lobes of thyroid gland are involved simultaneously, but in some patients one lobe is involved first and the other later(creeping thyroiditis), Thyroid autoantibodies which might appear probably due to inflammatory release of thyroid antigens, are found in a variable number of patients with subacute thyroiditis. However there have been few detailed reports on their incidence in Korean patients with subacute thyroiditis. So, we were to see the elinical characteristics of patients with subacute thyroiditis with special regards to the incidence of thyroid autoantibodies and to the incidence and characteristics of creeping thyroiditis, Methods: We reviewed the clinical records of 85 patients with subacute thyroiditis(7 men and 78 wornen, meam age of 43+9 years) who had visited the thyroid clinic in Seoul National University Hospital between 1986 and 1994. Results: At initial visit, the incidenees of thyroid autoantibodies were as follows: anti- microsomal antibody 7.8%, anti-thyroglobulin antibody 22.1%, and thyratropin binding inhibitor inununglobulin 6.3%. During the follow-up period, thyroid autoantibodies appeared most frequently between the first and the second month after initial visit. Compared to those with non-creeping thyroiditis, the patients with creeping thyroiditis(21.4%) had nonspecific systemic sy~rnptoms more frequently(89% vs. 42%, p<0.05). They required steroid therapy more ftequently(89% vs. 52%, p <0.05), and needed longer duration of treatment(9.3+6.2weeks vs, 4.7+3.7weeks, p<0.05). The incidence of abnormalities in liver function and the incidence of thyroid autoantibodies were higher in non-creeping thyroiditis group. Conclusion: In accordance with previous reports, thyroid autoantibodies were detected in only a small portion of Korean patients with subacute thyroiditis. Rather different clinical manifestations and different incidences of thyroid autoantibodies between ereeping group and non-creeping group suggest differences in the pathogenetic mechanisms between those two groups. However, there is need for further study to validate such observation and to elucidate the mechanisms.
Subacute thyroiditis is a self-limiting inflammation of the thyroid, presenting with painful thyroid swelling, thyrotoxicosis and low radioactive iodine uptake. The characteristic US findings for this disease are focal ill-defined hypoechoic areas in one lobe or diffuse hypoechoic areas in both lobes. Thyroid carcinomas should be included in the differential diagnosis for a lesion with focal hypoechoic areas and have been rarely reported to coexist with subacute thyroiditis. Takayasu's arteritis is an autoimmune disease that affects the aorta and its branches as well as pulmonary arteries. Subacute thyroiditis associated with Takayasu's arteritis is extremely rare, with only three cases being reported. We report here on the first case with the simultaneous diagnosis of subacute thyroiditis, papillary thyroid carcinoma and Takayasu's arteritis.
One of the rare diseases for differential diagnosis of subacute thyroiditis is metastases within the thyroid gland. We report here on a 72-year-old-woman with painful goiter and signs of hyperthyroidism. Her serum concentration of thyroid hormone was in the upper limit of normal, and the uptake of radioactive iodine by the thyroid was completely depressed. Although subacute thyroiditis was suspected, an additional work up that included a chest CT scan was done for the combined cough and chronic weakness. The result was lung cancer with metastatic involvement of the thyroid and multiple lymph nodes. She refused further anti-cancer therapy and died 5 months after the diagnosis. For the differential diagnosis of such a rare case, careful examination is important even in patients with the typical symptoms and laboratory findings of subacute thyroiditis.
Painful Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is a subtype of HT characterized by thyroid pain with overt elevation in inflammatory markers and thyroid autoantibodies. The differential diagnosis of painful HT with subacute granulomatous thyroiditis is often difficult because initial clinical findings are very similar. Findings that favor the diagnosis of painful HT include preceding history of chronic goiter or autoimmune thyroid diseases, a high titer of thyroid autoantibodies, and repeated painful attacks even with chronic glucocorticoid therapy. Surgery is often needed to relieve the thyroid pain.
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Painful immunoglobulin G4-related thyroiditis treated by total thyroidectomy Ihn Suk Lee, Jung Uee Lee, Kwan-Ju Lee, Yi Sun Jang, Jong Min Lee, Hye Soo Kim The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine.2016; 31(2): 399. CrossRef
A Case of Painful Hashimoto Thyroiditis that Mimicked Subacute Thyroiditis Hye Mi Seo, Miyeon Kim, Jaeseok Bae, Jo-Heon Kim, Jeong Won Lee, Sang Ah Lee, Gwanpyo Koh, Dae Ho Lee Chonnam Medical Journal.2012; 48(1): 69. CrossRef
Riedel's thyroiditis is a rare form of chronic thyroiditis, characterized by a fibroinflammatory process which partially destroys the thyroid, often involving surrounding tissues. The relationship of Riedel's thyroiditis to other forms of thyroiditis is not clear. A case of Riedel's thyroiditis in a 51-year-old female patient, admitted with a previous diagnosis of subacute thyroiditis, is reported. She was first diagnosed with subacute thyroiditis based on clinical manifestation and radiologic and laboratory results. She was treated with glucocorticoid for 8 weeks. The follow-up lasted for 12 months. However, three years later she underwent a thyroidectomy operation due to an enlargement of the thyroid nodule and suspicion of malignancy. Histopathologic examination confirmed that she had Riedel's Thyroiditis. Until now, few case of Riedel's thyroiditis in patients with a history of subacute thyroiditis have been reported in the literature. Although the etiology of Riedel's thyroiditis is unknown, it may develop in the course of subacute thyroiditis.
Subacute thyroiditis is a self-limited inflammatory disease of viral etiology. Patients of subacute thyroiditis usually recover completely with no sequelae and recurrences are infrequent. We report two cases of recurrent subacute thyroiditis. Case 1) A 21-year-old female visited the hospital for evaluation of neck pain. She had a history of antecedent upper respiratory infection, which had been followed for 10 days. She experienced heat intolerance, sweating, palpitation and tremor. On physical examination, her heart rate was 108/min and diffuse, firm and tender goiter was palpated. Thyrotoxicosis and decreased uptake on thyroid scan were found. We diagnosed subacute thyroiditis and she recovered with salicylate and beta blocker treatment. Two years later, she revisited our hospital with the same complaint. Typical findings of subacute thyroiditis were noticed. She recovered once more with the same treatment regimen. Case 2) A 54-year-old female visited the hospital for evaluation of neck pain. She had a history of antecedent upper respiratory infection, which was followed for 14 days. She experienced heat intolerance, sweating, palpitation and weight loss. On physical examination, her heart rate was 112/min and diffuse, firm and tender goiter was palpated. Thyrotoxicosis and decreased uptake on thyroid scan were found. We diagnosed subacute thyroiditis and recovered with prednisolone and beta blocker treatment. About eight months later, she revisited our hospital with the same complaint. Typical findings of subacute thyroiditis were noticed.We report two subjects who experienced recurrent episodes of subacute thyroiditis separated by periods of 24 and 8 months. These cases serve as a reminder that recurrence of subacute thyroiditis can occur.
Subacute thyroiditis is a frequent benign thyroid disease associated with previous viral upper respiratory tract infection. Known complications of this disease are long-standing subclinical hypothyroidism, persistent anterior neck pain and rarely Graves disease. In general, thyroid abscess is an uncommon disease because of anatomic isolation of the gland and its rich system of drainage for blood and lymph. Especially, development of thyroid abscess in subacute thyroiditis is extremely rare phenomenan, but significant bad outcomes can be resulted. Its clinical BACKGROUND containes immune-suppressed state, anatomic defect, presence of underlying other thyroid disease and of non-thyroidal infectious foci. We experienced a case of subacute thyroiditis complicated with streptococcal thyroid abscess during glucocorticoid therapy. The patient was a 19-year-old female who was admitted due to anterior neck pain for 1 month. Typical subacute thyroiditis was suggested from initial laboratory findings including CBC, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, serum T3, T4, TSH levels, thyroid scan & thyroid uptake. But during oral prednisolone therapy, unexpected bacterial thyroid abscess was developed. We report this unusual case with review of literatures.