Lymphocytic thyroiditis. I. correlation between morphological, immunological and clinical findings

Biopsies from the thyroid glands in 32 selected patients with goitre and lymphocytic thyroiditis have been investigated with quantitation of the morphological changes. This permitted a comparison with immunological and clinical findings. The three main elements in the destruction of glandular tissue--lymphocytes, plasma cells and fibrosis varied relatively independently of each other as an expression of the great variation in the appearance of the tissue lesion. Thyroglobulin antibodies showed a correlation to the number of plasma cells, whereas the microsomal thyroid antibodies showed a correlation to the number of lymphocytes. The morphologic changes were independent of the duration of the disease. The degree of fibrosis increased parallel with age and there was a tendency towards glandular fibrosis in myxoedematous patients.