Riedel's thyroiditis differential diagnosis

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

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

Riedel’s thyroiditis must be differentiated from other causes of thyroiditis, such as De Quervain’s thyroiditis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Riedel’s thyroiditis, and suppurative thyroiditis.^[1]

Conditions	Causes	Age at onset	Pathological findings	Diagnostic findings
Riedel’s thyroiditis	Unknown	30-60	Dense fibrosis	Normal TSH (euthyroidism) TPO antibodies usually present I-123 uptake decreased or normal
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
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
Silent thyroiditis	Autoimmune	All ages, peak at 30-40	Lymphocytic infiltration Lymphoid follicles	Increased TSH (hypothyroidism) and/or Decreased TSH (transient hypothyroidism) TPO antibodies present in high titer I-123 uptake usually decreased
Postpartum thyroiditis	Autoimmune	Childbearing age	Lymphocytic infiltration	Increased TSH (hypothyroidism) and/or Decreased TSH (transient hypothyroidism) TPO antibodies present in high titer I-123 uptake usually decreased
Suppurative thyroiditis	Infection	Children, 20-40	Abscess formation	Normal TSH (euthyroidism) TPO antibodies absent I-123 uptake normal

Riedel’s thyroiditis must be differentiated from other causes of hypothyroidism on the basis of history and symptoms and laboratory findings:^[2]^[3]^[1]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Disease		History and symptoms		Laboratory findings							Additional findings
Disease		Fever	Pain	TSH	Free T4	T3	T3RU^†	Thyroglobin	TRH	TPOAb^{^}	Additional findings
Primary hypothyroidism	Riedel’s thyroiditis	–	–	Normal/↑	Normal/↓	Normal/↓	Normal/↓	Normal	Normal	Usually present	Riedel’s thyroiditis usually presents with hard and fixed thyroid mass.
	Autoimmune (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis)	–	–	↑*	↓	Normal/↓	Normal/↓	Normal/↑	Normal	Present (high titer)	May be accompanied by other autoimmune diseases
	Infectious thyroiditis	+	+	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Absent	Infectious thyroiditis associated with neck pain
Transient hypothyroidism	Subacute (de Quervain’s) thyroiditis	+/-	+/-	↑/↓	↓/↑	Normal	↓	↑	Normal	Low/absent	May present primarily with hyperthyroidism
	Postpartum thyroiditis	+/-	+/-	↑/↓	↓/↑	Normal	↓	↑	Normal/↑	Present (high titer)	May present primarily with hyperthyroidism
	Silent thyroiditis	–	–	↑/↓	↓/↑	Normal	↓	↑	Normal	Present (high titer)	May present primarily with hyperthyroidism
Others	Drug-induced	–	–	↑/↓	↓/↑	Normal	↓	Normal/↑	Normal	Absent**	History of hyperthyroidism History of trauma History of drug use, surgery, or radiation
	Radiation-induced
	Trauma induced
	Radioiodine induced
	Thyroidectomy
	Subclinical hypothyroidism	–	–	↑	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal/↑	Asymptomatic

†: T3RU; Triiodothyronine Resin uptake

^: TPOAb; Thyroid peroxidase antibodies

*: TSH may be decreased transiently in the thyrotoxicosis

**: TPOAb may be present in drug-induced hypo/hyperthyroidism such as Interferon-alpha, interleukin-2, and lithium.

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 “Thyroiditis — NEJM”.
↑ Bindra A, Braunstein GD (2006). “Thyroiditis”. Am Fam Physician. 73 (10): 1769–76. PMID 16734054.
↑ McDermott MT (2009). “In the clinic. Hypothyroidism”. Ann. Intern. Med. 151 (11): ITC61. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-151-11-200912010-01006. PMID 19949140.
↑ Aoki Y, Belin RM, Clickner R, Jeffries R, Phillips L, Mahaffey KR (2007). “Serum TSH and total T4 in the United States population and their association with participant characteristics: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 1999-2002)”. Thyroid. 17 (12): 1211–23. doi:10.1089/thy.2006.0235. PMID 18177256.
↑ Lania A, Persani L, Beck-Peccoz P (2008). “Central hypothyroidism”. Pituitary. 11 (2): 181–6. doi:10.1007/s11102-008-0122-6. PMID 18415684.
↑ De Groot LJ, Chrousos G, Dungan K, Feingold KR, Grossman A, Hershman JM, Koch C, Korbonits M, McLachlan R, New M, Purnell J, Rebar R, Singer F, Vinik A, Stockigt J. “Clinical Strategies in the Testing of Thyroid Function”. PMID 25905413.