Salmonellosis initially seen as a thyroid abscess

✍ Scribed by Suhasini Gudipati; Dr. T. Ulf Westblom

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1991
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 224 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1043-3074
• DOI: 10.1002/hed.2880130212

✦ Synopsis

A case of Salmonella typhimurium thyroid abscess in a 79-yearold man is reported. The patient was seen with fever and neck tenderness 2 weeks after a brief episode of diarrhea. Surgical excision combined with 2 weeks of ceftriaxone, 1 g every 12 hours, resulted in complete recovery. This is only the fourth known case of Salmonella thyroid abscess, 3 of which have been caused by S. typhimurium. This organism is rarely found in other focal Salmonella infections and may therefore have a specific affinity for thyroid tissue. HEAD & NECK 1991 ;13:153-1 55

Extraintestinal manifestations of salmonellosis are rare, but well described in the literature. Localized infections develop in about 8% of cases' and are often associated with preceding bacteremia. In such cases the secondary infection may develop days, months, or years after the initial bacteremia. We report an unusual case of Salmonella thyroid abscess presenting 2 weeks after a diarrheal episode.