Autoimmune thyroid disease: an expanding spectrum

Autoimmune thyroid disease classically has included Hashimoto's thyroiditis and Graves' disease. Hashimoto's thyroiditis probably also includes focal thyroiditis, fibrous thyroiditis, primary myxedema, and Hashitoxicosis as variants. Graves' disease is associated with ophthalmopathy and dermopathy, and recent evidence suggests that these manifestations are autoimmune phenomena as well. Other associated autoimmune disorders include idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and antigen-antibody complex nephritis. Nonthyroid endocrine autoimmune deficiency disorders also have been classified as part of the spectrum of thyroid autoimmune disease. With the recent recognition of the spectrum of autoimmune mechanisms and antibody types and methods to distinguish antibody functions or types, our understanding of postpartum and neonatal thyroid disorders has been advanced considerably. The spectrum of neonatal thyroid disorders in the infants of women with autoimmune disease relates to the levels and types of antithyroid antibodies acquired from the mother. Finally, there is suggestive evidence that nonspecific goiter, including simple adolescent goiter and multinodular goiter as well as some cases of sporadic cretinism, may be part of an even more expanded spectrum of autoimmune thyroid disease.