Silent or painless thyroiditis can be easily missed or misdiagnosed if the diagnosis is not considered. It is often self-limited but recurrences can be easily overlooked.
Features of silent thryoiditis:
(1) absence of thyroid pain
(2) no or minimal swelling of the thyroid gland
(3) absence of or minimal systemic features (fever, myalgia, arthralgia)
(4) transient hyperthyroidism with elevated serum thyroid hormone concentrations
(5) exclusion of thyrotoxicosis factitia
A biopsy of the thyroid shows a lymphocytic thyroiditis.
A radioidine uptake scan shows reduced uptake.
Postpartum thyroiditis may be silent.
The condition overlaps with subacute thyroiditis (de Quervain's thyroiditis).
The diagnosis may be delayed if thyroid testing is not performed or if the symptoms of thyrotoxicosis are ascribed to some other cause.
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