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Although autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) is the most common acquired thyroid disease in children, information about its clinical presentation and the value of diagnostic studies is lacking. To determine the clinical manifestations of AIT, investigators reviewed the medical charts of 114 children with AIT (80% female; age range, 1–19 years) who were referred to an Israeli tertiary care center between 1987 and 2003. AIT was diagnosed based on the presence of thyroid autoantibodies plus thyroid enlargement (goiter), abnormal thyroid function, or morphologic changes on thyroid ultrasound. The children were treated for an average of 6 years.
The male-to-female ratio was 1:3 in children older than 10 years and 1:14 in children younger than 10 years. …