A case of unilateral development of subacute thyroiditis used as a hallmark of the nervous nature of its pathogenesis

Abstract

Abstract Despite the prevailing view that the factors underlying the development of subacute thyroiditis (ST) have an infectious origin, its viral and bacterial pathogeneses remain unclear. Moreover, the hypothesis of genetic predisposition to ST is nonabsolute. In previous studies, approximately 24%-40% patients with ST manifested unilateral thyroid disease; however, the assessment of the pathogenesis of ST did not consider this fact. Nevertheless, the involvement of the nervous system in the inflammatory process and the possibility that unilateral nerve conduction affects only one of the thyroid lobes, as demonstrated in the present case, indicate that the autonomic nervous system plays a leading role in ST development.