De Quervain's subacute thyroiditis presenting as a painless solitary thyroid nodule. (1/65)

We describe a 39-year-old woman presenting with a painless solitary thyroid nodule, initially without signs suggesting thyroiditis. The serum level of thyrotropin was suppressed whereas those of thyroxine and triiodothyronine were normal. Fine needle aspiration cytology showed no signs of inflammation or malignancy. One week later, the patient felt pain and tenderness on her neck, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein were markedly elevated. Thyroid scintigraphy showed a suppressed thyroid pertechnetate uptake. At that time, the diagnosis of subacute thyroiditis was made. Upon treatment with steroids the patient's symptoms as well as the thyroid nodule resolved. This case illustrates that subacute thyroiditis de Quervain may present as a solitary, painless nodule with suppressed thyrotropin and should therefore be considered in the differential diagnosis of such lesions.  (+info)

Thyroiditis: differential diagnosis and management. (2/65)

Thyroiditis is a group of inflammatory thyroid disorders. Patients with chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis (also referred to as Hashimoto's thyroiditis) present with hypothyroidism, goiter, or both. Measurement of serum thyroid autoantibodies and thyroglobulin confirms the diagnosis. Subacute granulomatous thyroiditis (sometimes referred to as de Quervain's disease) is a self-limited but painful disorder of the thyroid. Physical examination, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, elevated thyroglobulin level and depressed radioactive iodine uptake (RAIU) confirm the diagnosis. Subacute lymphocytic thyroiditis (silent thyroiditis) is considered autoimmune in origin and commonly occurs in the postpartum period. Symptoms of hyperthyroidism and depressed RAIU predominate. Acute (suppurative) thyroiditis is a rare, infectious thyroid disorder caused by bacteria and other microbes. The rare, invasive fibrous thyroiditis (Riedel's thyroiditis) presents with a slowly enlarging anterior neck mass that is sometimes confused with a malignancy.  (+info)

Sweet's syndrome and subacute thyroiditis. (3/65)

A 63 year old woman developed biopsy documented lesions of acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis (Sweet's syndrome) one week after the onset of subacute thyroiditis. This is only the second reported case of such an association. The role of cytokines in the development of both subacute thyroiditis and Sweet's syndrome may be the link between these two conditions.  (+info)

Historical perspective of foamy virus epidemiology and infection. (4/65)

Foamy viruses (FV) are complex retroviruses which are widespread in many species. Despite being discovered over 40 years ago, FV are among the least well characterized retroviruses. The replication of these viruses is different in many interesting respects from that of all other retroviruses. Infection of natural hosts by FV leads to a lifelong persistent infection, without any evidence of pathology. A large number of studies have looked at the prevalence of primate foamy viruses in the human population. Many of these studies have suggested that FV infections are prevalent in some human populations and are associated with specific diseases. More recent data, using more rigorous criteria for the presence of viruses, have not confirmed these studies. Thus, while FV are ubiquitous in all nonhuman primates, they are only acquired as rare zoonotic infections in humans. In this communication, we briefly discuss the current status of FV research and review the history of FV epidemiology, as well as the lack of pathogenicity in natural, experimental, and zoonotic infections.  (+info)

Cytomegalovirus pneumonitis, activated prothrombin time prolongation and subacute thyroiditis after unrelated allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. (5/65)

A 22-year-old female with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in complete remission received a conditioning regimen containing antithymocyte globulin for an unrelated bone marrow transplant (BMT). After BMT, the patient suffered from cytomegalovirus (CMV) pneumonitis with markedly high levels of CMV antigenemia, activated prothrombin time (APTT) prolongation, and subacute thyroiditis. Recovery of CD4+ cells was delayed as long as 1 year after BMT. An association between these three episodes and viral infection due to the delayed recovery of CD4+ cells is suggested.  (+info)

Evaluation of recurrence in 36 subacute thyroiditis patients managed with prednisolone. (6/65)

OBJECTIVE: The incidence of subacute thyroiditis (SAT) is low and there are a few reports of recurrence of subacute thyroiditis. Current treatment protocols for SAT are not uniform. Prednisolone (PSL) is chosen more often for treatment than nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. This study was undertaken to confirm the recurrence rate of SAT managed by PSL, and to compare the initial laboratory data between the recurrent and the non-recurrent groups. METHODS: After diagnosis, all patients were treated with PSL (starting at 30 mg or 25 mg per day, tapered by 5 mg per week) for 5 or 6 weeks. We evaluated data and symptoms at the first visit and during the therapy. PATIENTS: Thirty-six patients who received only PSL for SAT at our hospital between January 1997 and December 1998 were referred. These patients asked to visit every 2 weeks for the monitoring of symptoms and laboratory data. RESULTS: SAT symptoms recurred in eight patients (22%), most upon cessation of PSL. There was no difference in initial serum sialic acid, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, thyroglobulin, serum free thyroxine and free triiodothyronine before PSL treatment between the recurrent and non-recurrent patient populations. CONCLUSIONS: The recurrence rate of SAT with treated PSL is about 20%. There was no difference in the laboratory data before starting the therapy between recurrent and non-recurrent groups. Therefore, a modified protocol of PSL administration may be needed to decrease the early recurrent rate of SAT.  (+info)

Familial occurrence of subacute thyroiditis. (7/65)

Although subacute thyroiditis (de Quervain's thyroiditis) is presumed to be caused by a viral infection, only 2 familial occurrences of subacute thyroiditis have been reported in the literature. Typical and severe subacute thyroiditis was diagnosed in an older sister who was hospitalized for 8 days. During this period her younger sister nursed her. Three weeks after, the same clinical picture occurred in the younger sister. We postulate that subacute thyroiditis might occur by transmission of possible viral infection in genetically predisposed individuals.  (+info)

CT and MR imaging findings associated with subacute thyroiditis. (8/65)

Subacute granulomatous thyroiditis is an uncommon disease that occurs most often in women in their second to fifth decades of life. This disease usually presents with thyroid tenderness, a low grade fever, and occasional dysphagia. The disease resolves spontaneously, usually without thyroid function abnormalities. We herein present the CT and MR imaging findings of two cases of subacute granulomatous thyroiditis.  (+info)