Anaplastic pseudothyroiditis.
Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is one of the most aggressive solid tumours. It generally presents as a rapidly enlarging thyroid mass and produces local symptoms associated with mass effect. One of the very rare presentations of ATC is thyrotoxicosis. We report a patient with ATC whose course was complicated by severe thyrotoxicosis. His symptoms were controlled with beta-blockers. Two weeks into hospitalization, the patient became hypothyroid. Histopathology showed destruction of the normal thyroid follicles by the invasion of the tumour. As this form of thyrotoxicosis resembles various thyroiditides, we hereby refer this condition as "anaplastic pseudothyroiditis".
Basaria
Shehzad
S
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Bayview Medical Center, 4940 Eastern Avenue, A-5-E, Suite 503, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. sbasaria@jhmi.edu
Udelsman
Robert
R
Tejedor-Sojo
Javier
J
Westra
William H
WH
Krasner
Alan S
AS
D002277:Carcinoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007037:Hypothyroidism / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000473:pathology; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D013971:Thyrotoxicosis / Q000209:etiology*