• Mark D Herndon, D Benjamin Christie, Macram M Ayoub, and A Daniel Duggan.
• Department of Surgery, Mercer University School of Medicine, Medical Center of Central Georgia, Macon, Georgia 31201, USA. mherndon@juno.com
• Am Surg. 2007 Jul 1;73(7):725-8.

AbstractA thyroid abscess is an infrequently encountered condition with a rarity that is attributable to anatomic and physiologic characteristics of the gland that impart a unique quality of infection resistance. The differential diagnoses for a painful thyroid is limited, with subacute and chronic thyroiditis being the most often-encountered processes. Acute suppurative thyroiditis with abscess formation, although rare, is a formidable clinical scenario with morbid complications. Because the diagnosis of a thyroid abscess is often delayed in lieu of investigating other more common etiologies of thyroiditis, this disease entity may portend to a dismal clinical outcome. The authors report the case of a 53-year-old woman with a thyroid abscess yielding a single microbial isolate believed to be resultant from a urinary tract bacteremia. They also review the literature for discussion of abscess etiologies, presentations, and management strategies.

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