Tuberculous involvement of the thyroid

ABSTRACT

Despite increasing detection rates of various forms of extrapulmonary tuberculosis [TB], thyroid involvement with tubercle bacilli is rarely encountered and its imaging features have been reported in less than a handful of cases. Herein, we present the clinical, pathologic and imaging [ultrasound and CT scan] features of TB involvement of the thyroid gland in a 65-year-old woman who presented with a painful and rapidly enlarging thyroid mass. While reviewing fine needle aspiration results, the diagnosis of TB should be borne in mind, especially in the presence of imaging findings of a peripherally enhancing thyroid mass or thickening of the adjacent musculature and skin, the so-called dermal sign