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Background
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Thyroid antibodies are a characteristic finding in patients with Hashimoto’s and Graves’ diseases. The presence of thyroid antibodies in the sera of 80% of patients with these two diseases led to the recommendation that some type of thyroid antibody testing be a feature of the work-up of any patient with a goiter. Although thyroid antibodies are predominantly associated with Hashimoto’s or Graves’ diseases, they may be found in the sera of patients with other diseases such as myxedma, granulomatous thyroiditis, nontoxic nodular goiter, and thyroid carcinoma. Thyroid antibodies are also found in most cases of lymphocytic thyroiditis in children, and rarely in patients with pernicious anemia and Sjögren’s Syndrome.
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