Acute suppurative thryroiditis is a rare disease because the thyroid gland is resistant to infection. Thyroid function tests are usually normal in acute suppurative thryroiditis. We care for a patient with acute suppurative thryroiditis and associated thyrotoxicosis. A 73-year-old diabetic woman presented with pain over the thyroid gland and an elevated serum thyroid hormone level and decreased radioiodine uptake, as occurs in subacute thyroiditis. A neck computed tomography showed an abscess in the right lobe of the thyroid gland. A neutrophilic infiltration was shown in a fine needle aspiration biopsy, and Gram negative Burkholderia gladioli grew from the aspirate culture. Antibiotic treatment ameliorated the symptoms of infection, followed by normalization of thyroid function.
Abscess ; Aged ; Biopsy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Burkholderia gladioli ; Female ; Humans ; Neck ; Neutrophils ; Rare Diseases ; Thyroid Function Tests ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroiditis, Subacute ; Thyroiditis, Suppurative ; Thyrotoxicosis