Tuberculosis of the thyroid gland

Abstract

Thyroid tuberculosis is a very rare condition despite an overall increase in the extrapulmonary forms of tuberculosis. Tuberculous infection spreads to the thyroid by lymphogenous/hematogenous route or directly from adjacent organs. Thyroid tuberculosis does not have any specific symptom. Fine needle aspiration is the mainstay of diagnosis. Antituberculous therapy and surgical removal of affected parts of the thyroid gland are the most common methods of treatment of thyroid tuberculosis. We present a case of a 37-year-old male who presented with a swelling in the neck and was diagnosed as tubercular thyroiditis on cytopathological examination.