title: Case report: hypothyroidism due to pneumocystis carinii thyroiditis in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
abstract: Pneumocystis carinii is the most common cause of opportunistic pulmonary infection in AIDS patients and disseminated disease is being recognized with increasing frequency. We describe a patient with cavitary pulmonary disease, lymphadenopathy, thyroiditis, and associated hypothyroidism, all a result of P. carinii. The organism was easily demonstrated in a fine-needle aspirate specimen of the thyroid. This is the second reported case of clinically apparent Pneumocystis thyroiditis and the first reported case of hypothyroidism due to an opportunistic infection in a patient with AIDS. Clinicians should be aware of this entity and request a Grocott-Gomori methenamine-silver nitrate stain of appropriate cytology specimens to make the diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Miami School of Medicine, North Miami Beach, Florida 33136.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Spitzer
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Marks
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Valme
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: McKenzie
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D007037:Hypothyroidism / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009181:Mycoses / Q000150:complications*; D009894:Opportunistic Infections; D011010:Pneumocystis / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D013966:Thyroiditis / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology