Silent thyrotoxic thyroiditis in association with chronic adrenocortical insufficiency.

A 23-year-old woman had silent thyrotoxic thyroiditis and chronic adrenocortical insufficiency (Addison's disease). Recent evidence suggests that silent thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease characterized by lymphocytic infiltration of the thyroid and by transient hyperthyroidism, followed occasionally by transient hypothyroidism and eventual recovery. This case would seem to expand the spectrum of autoimmune thyroid diseases (Graves' disease, lymphocytic [Hashimoto's] thyroiditis, and hypothyroidism) associated with chronic adrenocortical insufficiency.