Acute Suppurative Thyroiditis with Thyroid Abscess and Bilateral Pneumonia: A Case Report

Acute suppurative thyroiditis (AST) leading to thyroid abscess is a rare clinical entity. The aim of this article is to demonstrate a case of severe bilateral pneumonia which originated from a thyroid abscess. The authors report the case of a 57-year-old woman with severe bilateral pneumonia of thyroid origin. The patient had a painful throat and dysphagia for 2 or 3 days. She also had a history of mild fever and hard breathing with a discreet cough 7 days prior to hospital admission. In the past few months, the patient had frequent pneumonias. The patient was treated with a culture-appropriate antibiotic and total thyroidectomy. Primary recommendations for treatment of complicated infections of thyroid origin consider a multidisciplinary approach. Recurrent pneumonia in patients with thyroid nodules may be the result of thyroid inflammation, and, in such patients, neck ultrasound should be conducted as part of the diagnostic workup.