Vol.23 No.6

Case Report

Giant cell arteritis of the thyroid in a 69-year-old male

Authors

Crystal M. Glassy 1 , Carla Guggenheim2

  • Department of Family Medicine, University of California, Irvine, 101 The City Blvd South, Bldg 200 Suite 835, Orange, CA 92868, USA
  • Department of Rheumatology, Michigan State University, 1106 N Cedar St Suite 2A, Lansing, MI 48910, USA
Received:

26 June 2012

Accepted:

6 August 2012

Published online:

8 September 2012

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Abstract

We report the case of a 69-year-old Caucasian male with a histological confirmed diagnosis of giant cell arteritis (GCA) of the thyroid. To our knowledge this is the second reported case of GCA of the thyroid with a histological confirmed diagnosis. Unique to this case is that our patient did not have the simultaneous occurrence of a positive temporal artery biopsy or classic symptoms of temporal arteritis. The patient presented with fever of unknown origin, and fatigue. Laboratory reports included a sedimentation rate of[100 mm/h and C-reactive protein level of 17.1 mg/dL. Goiter with irregular calcifications was found on the computed tomography image. Temporal artery biopsy was negative.
The patient continued to have intermittent fever after discharge and was readmitted to the hospital 41 days after discharge for fever and increasing fatigue. The thyroid was resected to rule out neoplasia. Granulomatous GCA was identified within the thyroid specimen.

Key words

Giant cell arteritis, Temporal arteritis, Thyroid