A CASE OF SO-CALLED RIEDEL'S THYROIDITIS

Abstract

Riedel's thyroiditis is a rare disease classified as a special type of chronic thyroiditis. However, there are few reports about this illness, and many problems with its pathogenesis and classification exist.A 65-year-old man with hypothyroidism underwent right lobectomy of the thyroid gland on the basis of a diagnosis of thyroid cancer. because of enlargement of hard goiter, swelling of many cervical lymph nodes, and an invasive shadow with calcification upon echography and CT. However operative findings and a pathological investigation suggested Riedel's thyroiditis.Fibrous invasion of the connective tissue or organs surrounding the thyroid gland is pathologically the most characteristic finding of this disease, which occasionally has specific complications, such as multiple fibrosis. Thus, in some papers it is stated that this disease is independent of chronic thyroiditis. However, autoimmunological factors i the pathogenesis are recognized, and there are many points of similarity between Riedel's and chronic thyroiditis. In the future, it will be important to conduct investigations into both diseases.