Primary tuberculosis of the thyroid gland: report of three cases.

We report on three cases with rapidly increasing thyroid masses who were referred with the provisional diagnosis of thyroid carcinoma. In the two cases, the diagnosis of tuberculosis was established after thyroidectomy, but in the third case diagnosis was made pre-operatively with acid fast bacilli (AFB) staining and culture from fine needle aspiration (FNA) material. Although rare, tuberculosis of the thyroid gland should be included in the differential diagnosis of thyroid masses. FNA, AFB staining and culture of the aspirate are important diagnostic tools in these cases.