MCQ MAHE 2000 Surgery Answer 15

• Subacute thyroiditis (also known as De Quervain’s thyroiditis) is the most common cause of thyroid pain and tenderness.
• It is an acute inflammatory disorder of the thyroid gland most likely due to viral infection. Suspected viral agents include mumps virus, cocksackie virus, and adenovirus.
  
• It usually affects patients in the 4th and 5th decades with a female to male ratio of 5 to 1
• Radioactive iodine uptake will be decreased and there will be an elevation in serum thyroglobulin.
• ESR may be as high as 100 mm/h. Usually, thyroid autoantibodies are not present.
• Subacute thyroiditis usually remits spontaneously over weeks to months. Relapses may occur when the T4 levels have fallen, TSH has risen and the gland is starting to recover function.
  
• Uncommonly, the course may extend over several years, with repeated bouts of inflammatory disease.

Category: MAHE 2000 MCQs