An autopsy case of congenital goiter.

Abstract

An autopsy case of so‐called congenital goiter of a female newborn is presented. It was an adult‐fist sized, horse‐shoe like goiter surrounding her fore‐neck, and caused air passage obstruction which most probably was the immediate cause of her death. Histologically, the mass consisted of hyperplastic follicles occasionally containing eosinophilic, colloid‐like substance. Clinically, the mother had had two episodes with possible relation to this change; (1) administration of potassium iodide (0.5 g/day) for the past 4 years including this pregnancy, (2) suspicious existence of latent hypothyroidism lasting for many years. Thus a possibility can be pointed out that the goiter was caused by administration of excess iodide and/or hypothyroidism of the mother during the pregnancy. A short discussion is also made on the relationship between histological findings of goiters and goitrogenic factors.