Dr. Sheldon Rubenfeld Board Certified in Internal Medicine and in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism

What is Thyroiditis?

Thyroiditis may be thought of as an inflammation of the thyroid gland. There are several different types of thyroiditis, and more than one type may occur in the same patient. For example, a patient with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, a common chronic type of thyroiditis, may also develop a transient type of thyroiditis, such as subacute thyroiditis.

One way of classifying the different types of thyroiditis is by their duration:

• chronic (permanent)
• transient (lasting less than one year)
• acute (rapid onset requiring immediate attention)

Classifications of Thyroiditis