Riedel's thyroiditis in a black African: A case report and review of literature

Riedel's thyroiditis is a rare cause of the enlargement of the thyroid gland. The etiology is not fully known. There has been no report of Riedel thyroiditis in our country. We report a case of a 61-year-old man with the disease as well as review the literature. We present the case of 61-year-old carpenter seen in our clinic with 2½ years history of painless anterior neck swelling associated with hoarseness of voice. He had multiple hard nodules on the left lobe of the thyroid gland with multiple cervical lymph nodes enlargement. No feature of hypothyroidism or thyroiditis. Clinical diagnosis of malignant goiter was made although Fine-needle aspiration for cytology did not suggest malignancy. He had surgery, findings included nonresectable hard multinodular left thyroid lobe from which a wedge biopsy was taken, Histology of the specimen revealed Riedel's thyroiditis. He was managed with oral Prednisolone and Tamoxifen with remarkable improvement in his clinical symptoms. Riedel's thyroiditis is a rare disease. It can easily mimic malignant goiter hence proper histological diagnosis will be necessary to differentiate. Review of medical literature showed that Riedel thyroiditis has not been reported in a black African patient inhabiting the sub-Sahara Africa. This was a report of Riedel thyroiditis in a black Nigerian patient that was successfully managed on oral glucocorticoid, tamoxifen and L-thyroxine.