Abstract
Goiters were often associated with iodine deficiency in European mountain areas, with some goiters being quite disfiguring. However, some goiters seem not to be related to iodine deficiency. One of the types of goiter that are unrelated to iodine deficiency is the disease described by Hakaru Hashimoto in 1912. Hashimoto described it as a special characteristic of a new type of lymphomatous thyroid tumor in Japan, and this entity was recognized as an autoimmune disease of the thyroid many years later. Hashimoto published his article in a German journal because that was the scientific language of the time, and he thought that writing in German would make the work more widely available around the world. Patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis are usually asymptomatic, and some patients develop goiters with or without hypothyroidism. The goiters and hypothyroidism usually respond to treatment with thyroid hormone. The dose of thyroid hormone must be carefully titrated because there may be autonomous thyroid function resulting from thyroid-stimulating antibodies despite the hypothyroid state.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Hahsimoto H (1912) Zur Kenntniss der lymphomatösen Vernderung der Shilddrüse (Struma lymphomatosa). Arch Llin Chir 97:219–248
Simmonds M (1913) Über lympnatische Herde in der Schilddrüsse. Virchows Arch Pathol Anat Physiol 211:73–89
Heineke (1914) Die chronische Thyreoiditis. Dtsch Z Chir 129:189–220
Reist A (1922) Über chronische Thyreoiditis. Frankf Z Pathol 28:141–200
Riedel BMCL (1896) Die chronische zur Bildung eisenharter Tumoren führende Entzündung der Schilddrüse. Verh Dtsch Ges Chir 25:101–105
Graham A (1931) Riede’s struma in contrast tostruma lymphomatosa (Hashimoto). West J Surg 39:681–689
Joll CA (1932) Diseases of the Thyroid Gland with Special Reference to thyrotoxicosis. William Heinemann, London, p 112
Woolner LB, McConahey WM, Beahrs OH (1959) Struma lymphomastosa (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis) and related thyroid disorders. J Endocrinol Metab 19:53–83
Shamsuddin AKM, Lane RA (1981) Ultrastructural pathology in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Hum Pathol 12:561–573
Vickery AL, Hamlin E (1961) Struma lymphomatosa (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis): observations on repeated biopsies in sixteen patients. N Engl J Med 264:226–229
Sheu SY, Schmid KW (2003) Entzündliche Schilddrüsenerkrankungen. Pathologe 24:339–347
Grotkowski CE (1992) Thyroid aspiration cytology. In: Atkins BF, editor. Atlas of Diagnostic Cytopathology. Saunders, Philadelphia, pp 534–535
Ahlmann AJ, Burman KD (1987) The role of T-lymphocytes in autoimmune thyroid disease. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am16:287–326
Oertel JE, Heffess CS (1987) Lymphoma of the thyroid and related disorders. Semin Oncol 14:333–342
Ahuja AT (2000) The thyroid and parathyroids. In Ahuja AT, Evans RM, editors. Practical Head and Neck Ultrasound. Greenwich Medical Media, London, pp 35–64
Dayan CM, Daniels GH (1996) Chronic autoimmune thyroiditis. N Engl J Med 335:99–106
Hegedus L, Hansen JM, Feldt-Rasmmsen U (1991) Influence of thyroxine treatment on thyroid size and antithyroid peroxidase antibodies in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 35:235–241
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Dr. Kazuo Hashimoto, Professor Emeritus, Kanazawa University, the son of Dr. Hakaru Hashimoto, for offering valuable materials.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article was presented at the lunchtime session “Meet the Experts: Thyroiditis,” International Association of Endocrine Surgeons meeting, Montreal, 2007.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Takami, H.E., Miyabe, R. & Kameyama, K. Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. World J Surg 32, 688–692 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-008-9485-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-008-9485-0