[Morphology and clinical aspects of immune thyroid diseases]

The aetiopathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid disease is still a matter for discussion. Morphologically, these illnesses are associated with a broad spectrum of overlapping changes. Thus, pathology cannot serve as the logical basis for a new classification. Therefore this overview makes use of the conventional nomenclature of clinically established entities and includes recently defined lesions. Besides histological characteristics, details of differential diagnostic value are presented in the context of clinical and laboratory data relevant for pathological classification.