[Differential diagnosis of the low-echo thyroid gland]

Hypothyrosis as a result of inflammatory disease of the thyroid gland, often is a diagnostic problem because of the insidious onset and its lack of specific symptoms. In the rather large amount of literature about sonography of the thyroid no papers with a systematic approach to this entity are found. In a prospective study we evaluated 36 proven cases and found a characteristic sonographic pattern of the thyroid with regard to its size, contour and structure.