Acute Thyroiditis, Cytological Findings

Synonyms

Thyroid infectious disease; Viral thyroiditis

Definition

Acute inflammation of the thyroid gland usually due to microorganisms.

Clinical Features

• Incidence

  It is currently an uncommon and rare process.

• Age

  Observed either by teenagers or immunocompromised adult people.

• Sex

  May occur whatever the gender.

• Site

  The lesion may be found anywhere in the thyroid gland.

• Treatment

  Treatment is based on a targeted antibiotic therapy and in some cases on abscess drainage.

• Outcome

  Usually there is no adverse outcome, except in severe immunocompromised hosts.

Macroscopy

These lesions should not be treated by surgery and less invasive treatment would be more relevant. Nevertheless, in case of surgical management, a wide thyroid increase could be observed with edema and eventually abscess and cavitation due to abscess partial or total drainage.

Microscopy

Fine-needle aspirations (FNA) are rarely recommended in acute thyroiditis since the diagnosis is usually based on clinical symptoms alone,...