Tuberculous Involvement of the Thyroid

Despite increasing detection rates of various forms of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB), thyroid involvement with tubercle bacilli is rarely encountered and its imaging features have been reported in less than a handful of cases. Herein, we present the clinical, pathologic and imaging (ultrasound and CT scan) features of TB involvement of the thyroid gland in a 65-year-old woman who presented with a painful and rapidly enlarging thyroid mass. While reviewing fine needle aspiration results, the diagnosis of TB should be borne in mind, especially in the presence of imaging findings of a peripherally enhancing thyroid mass or thickening of the adjacent musculature and skin, the so-called dermal sign.