Fine needle aspiration cytology and immunocytochemistry in tuberculous thyroiditis: a case report.
BACKGROUND
Tuberculosis of the thyroid is very rare and does not strike the clinician as a first clinical diagnosis of a thyroid nodule. To our knowledge, only 40 cases of tuberculous thyroiditis diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) are described in the English literature.


METHODS
We report a case of tuberculous thyroiditis in a young woman who presented with a right-side solitary thyroid nodule of short duration (15 days), diagnosed by FNAC and confirmed by positive immunocytochemistry with monoclonal antibody to Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Ziehl Neelsen staining for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) was negative.


CONCLUSIONS
FNAC provides a confident preoperative diagnosis of thyroid tuberculosis, obviating the need for unnecessary surgical removal of thyroid nodule. Immunocytochemistry is an important diagnostic adjunct to FNAC in AFB-negative cases.
Goel
Madhu Mati
MM
Department of Pathology, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. madhukgmc@rediffmail.com
Budhwar
Puja
P
D000293:Adolescent; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016606:Thyroid Nodule / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D013966:Thyroiditis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D014383:Tuberculosis, Endocrine / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology