Diffuse Toxic Goiter

Excerpt

Goiter simply refers to the enlargement of the thyroid gland. It can be due to various causes with the dietary iodine deficiency being the most common cause worldwide. In the United States, however, Graves disease and Hashimoto disease are the most commonly seen in clinical practice. The goiters have been classified in different categories, as per morphology (described as nodular versus diffuse), functional status (that could be hyperthyroid, hypothyroid, or euthyroid), the presence of malignancy, etc. By definition, a diffuse toxic goiter refers to a diffusely hyperplastic thyroid gland that is excessively overproducing the thyroid hormones.