Infective thyroiditis in northern Nigeria: a fifteen-year study.

Infective (suppurative) thyroiditis is almost non-existent in the developed world and even in the developing world, it still remains a rare disease entity. Seventeen patients with this disease were seen in 15 years in Zaria, Northern Nigeria. Fourteen of these patients had multinodular goitre, one patient had an adenoma and 2 never had a pre-existing neck swelling. Two patients with multinodular goitres had associated papillary and follicular carcinoma respectively. Pus was not obtained for culture from 3 patients. The pus in 5 (29%) of 17 patients grew staphylococcus aureus. 2 patients grew salmonella typhi and E. coli respectively and 2 patients grew Group A beta-haemolytic streptococcus from the pus. In three patients the diagnosis of thyroid abscess was an incidental finding by the pathologist, in patients with tender goitre clinically suspected to have had recent haemorrhages. Indolent thyroid abscesses from which gram negative organisms are isolated may be a pointer to an associated underlying malignancy.