Tuberculous thyroiditis and miliary tuberculosis manifested postpartum in a patient with thyroid carcinoma.

Right nodular goiter with diffuse miliary shadow on chest roentgenogram was found in a postpartum febrile woman. Transbronchial lung biopsy revealed tuberculous granuloma and acid-fast bacilli were found by aspiration cytology of the thyroid. Although chemotherapy was effective, the thyroid nodule remained palpable and the serum thyroglobulin level remained high. Subtotal thyroidectomy revealed papillary carcinoma associated with tuberculosis and lymph nodes metastasis. This seems to be the first case report of a patient with tuberculous thyroiditis, coexisting with thyroid carcinoma, diagnosed by aspiration cytology and treated prior to surgery.