LYMPHOCYTIC THYROIDITIS .2. COURSE OF DISEASE IN RELATION TO MORPHOLOGIC, IMMUNOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL FINDINGS AT TIME OF BIOPSY

  • 1 January 1977
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 202  (6) , 469-473
Abstract
Patients (32) with goiter and lymphocytic thyroiditis were followed for 1 1/2-19 yr (average 7) after open surgical biopsy. Treatment with thyroid hormone was started when myxedema was diagnosed. Five patients (group A) regained normal glandular size, remained euthyroid and had elevated antibody titers. Six patients (group B) continued to have goiter and elevated antibody titers and remained euthyroid. Thirteen patients (group C) developed myxedema; 8 (group D) demonstrated myxedema at the time of biopsy. The patients in groups C and D had a higher average age and their biopsies showed more marked fibrosis compared with groups A and B. The goiter disappeared during treatment in 62% of the patients and the microsomal antibody titer also decreased in them; the thyroglobulin antibody titer decreased in all treated patients. The degree of fibrosis in the thyroid gland is of overall importance for the prognosis with regard to glandular function. The treatment with thyroid hormone influences the autoimmune process so that the activity decreases.