De Quervain's thyroiditis from other diseases

De Quervain's thyroiditis Microchapters
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Differentiating De Quervain's thyroiditis from other Diseases
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Furqan M M. M.B.B.S[2]

Overview

De Quervain's thyroiditis must be differentiated from other causes of thyroiditis, such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Riedel's thyroiditis, and suppurative thyroiditis.

Differentiating De Quervain's thyroiditis from other diseases

• De Quervain's thyroiditis must be differentiated from other causes of thyroiditis, such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Riedel's thyroiditis, and suppurative thyroiditis.
  

Conditions	Causes	Age at onset	Pathological findings	Diagnostic approach
Painful subacute (De Quervain's) thyroiditis	Unknown	20-60	Giant cells Granulomas	Increased TSH (hypothyroidism) and/or Decreased TSH (Thyrotoxicosis) TPO antibodies absent or very low titer I-123 uptake decreased
Hashimoto's thyroiditis	Autoimmune	All ages, peak at 30-50	Lymphocytic infiltration Germinal centers Fibrosis (in some variants)	Increased TSH (hypothyroidism) TPO antibodies present in high titer I-123 uptake usually decreased
Riedel's thyroiditis	Unknown	30-60	Dense fibrosis	Normal TSH (euthyroidism) TPO antibodies usually present I-123 uptake decreased or normal
Suppurative thyroiditis	Infection	Children, 20-40	Abscess formation	Normal TSH (euthyroidism) TPO antibodies absent I-123 uptake normal

De Quervain's thyroiditis must be differentiated from other causes of hypothyroidism on the basis of history and symptoms and laboratory findings:

Disease		History and symptoms			Laboratory findings						Additional findings
		Fever	Pain	TSH	Free T4	T3	T3RU*	Thyroglobin	TRH	TPOAb^
Transient hypothyroidism	Subacute (de Quervain's) thyroiditis	+/-	+/-	↑/↓	↓/↑	N	↓	N	N	Absent	May present primarily with hyperthyroidism
	Post-partum thyroiditis	+/-	+/-	↑/↓	↓/↑	N	↓	N	N	Absent	May present primarily with hyperthyroidism
Primary hypothyroidism	Autoimmune (Hashimoto's thyroiditis)	-	-	↑	↓	N/↓	N/↓	N/↑	N	Present (high titer)	May be accompanied by other autoimmune diseases
	Riedel's thyroiditis	-	-	N/↑	N/↓	N/↓	N/↓	N	N	Usually present	Riedel's thyroiditis usually presents with hard and fixed thyroid mass.
	Infectious thyroiditis	+	+	N	N	N	N	N	N	Absent	Infectious thyroiditis associated with neck pain
Others	Drug-induced	-	-	↑/↓	↓/↑	N	↓	N/↑	N	Absent**	History of hyperthyroidism Drug history
	Radiation-induced
	Trauma induced
	Radioiodine induced
	Thyroidectomy
	Subclinical hypothyroidism	-	-	↑	N	N	N	N	N	N/↑	Asymptomatic

De Quervain's thyroiditis can be differentiated from the conditions causing thyrotoxicosis on the basis of following features:

Cause of thyrotoxicosis	TSH receptor Antibodies	Thyroid US	Color flow Doppler	Radioactive iodine uptake/Scan	Other features
Subacute thyroiditis	-	Heterogeneous hypoechoic areas	Reduced/absent flow	↓	Neck pain, fever, and elevated inflammatory index
Graves' disease	+	Hypoechoic pattern	↑	↑	Ophthalmopathy, dermopathy, acropachy
Toxic nodular goiter	-	Multiple nodules	-	Hot nodules at thyroid scan	-
Toxic adenoma	-	Single nodule	-	Hot nodule	-
Painless thyroiditis	-	Hypoechoic pattern	Reduced/absent flow	↓	-
Amiodarone induced thyroiditis-Type 1	-	Diffuse or nodular goiter	↓/Normal/↑	↓ but higher than in Type 2	High urinary iodine
Amiodarone induced thyroiditis-Type 2	-	Normal	Absent	↓/absent	High urinary iodine
Central hyperthyroidism	-	Diffuse or nodular goiter	Normal/↑	↑	Inappropriately normal or high TSH
Trophoblastic disease	-	Diffuse or nodular goiter	Normal/↑	↑	-
Factitious thyrotoxicosis	-	Variable	Reduced/absent flow	↓	↓ serum thyroglobulin
Struma ovarii	-	Variable	Reduced/absent flow	↓	Abdominal RAIU

(*)T3RU; Triiodothyronine Resin uptake. (^)TPOAb; Thyroid peroxidase antibodies. (**)May be present in drug-induced hypo/hyperthyroidism such as Interferon-alpha, interleukin-2, and lithium.