Intermittent course of chronic goitrous autoimmune thyroiditis.

A case is reported of a woman of 30 where chronic autoimmune thyroiditis was diagnosed in 1970. The diagnosis was based on palpation, thyroid function tests and elevated titres of antibodies against thyroid constituents. She was initially treated with small doses of prednisone with complete clinical and biochemical remission which persisted also after therapy was withdrawn. In the following 10 years she had three new episodes of goitre and biochemical hypothyroidism, all responding fast and completely to small doses of prednisone. Between these episodes she had periods of several months up to 3 years with no detectable thyroid disease even when not on treatment.