[Surgical treatment of autoimmune thyroiditis]

The authors used combined modality therapy including clinical, laboratory, x-ray, radiological, immunological and histological methods to diagnose autoimmune thyroiditis. Enlargement of the thyroid up to the 3-4 th degree, signs of compression or shift of the trachea and esophagus, the presence of nodes, progressive goiter growth and suspected malignant transformation served as indications for surgical intervention. Subfascial extirpation of the thyroid can be an operation of choice in surgical treatment of Hoshimoto's thyroiditis. A question of the time of surgical intervention cannot be considered completely solved.