Thyroid tuberculosis in Romania; cases recorded in a 12‑year period.

Thyroid Tuberculosis (TT) is an extremely rare condition. Taking into account that Romania ranks first in the EU regarding the incidence of tuberculosis, we aimed to evaluate the involvement of Mycobacterium tuberculosis at thyroid level. We have conducted a thorough search of all papers on this subject published both nationally and internationally to shed some light on this uncommon condition. We obtained 594 articles for the period 1914- 2013, of which 337 were directly related to the subject, the majority of them presenting clinical cases; 4 out of all articles were written by Romanian authors. The evaluation of all suspected cases using classical and modern techniques of diagnosis is strictly necessary; histopathological examination should be performed in each case and the results objectified and accumulated in an accessible database. We consider it very important to establish diagnostic criteria to facilitate comparison of cases (at national and international level) and to implement an active surveillance of TT, which should lead to better management of patients with TT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]