Hepatocellular carcinoma associated with a rare combination of polycythemia and chronic thyroiditis

A case of hepatocellular carcinoma associated with polycythemia and chronic thyroiditis, is reported in a 76-year-old female. At autopsy, the liver tumor was shown to be co-existent with liver cirrhosis. A series of hematological studies including the determination of plasma erythropoietin levels, led to the conclusion that this patient's polycythemia was most likely due to an excessive production of erythropoietin by the liver tumor. Chronic thyroiditis, another combined disease, might be related to liver cirrhosis, if the formerly advocated "hepato-thyroidal syndrome" is accepted. The author reports on this patient, since prior to this case there has been no documented case report of hepatocellular carcinoma accompanying both polycythemia and chronic thyroiditis.