A Hürthle cell is a cell in the thyroid that is often associated with Hashimoto's thyroiditis

Hashimoto's thyroiditis

Hashimoto's thyroiditis or chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease in which the thyroid gland is gradually destroyed by a variety of cell- and antibody-mediated immune processes. It was the first disease to be recognized as an autoimmune disease...

 as well as follicular thyroid cancer

Follicular thyroid cancer

Follicular thyroid cancer accounts for 15% of thyroid cancer which occurs more commonly in women of over 50 years old. Thyroglobulin can be used as a tumor marker for well-differentiated follicular thyroid cancer.-Classification:...

.

Histology

Hürthle cells are characterized as enlarged epithelial cells with abundant eosinophilic granular cytoplasm as a result of altered mitochondria. They generally stain pink and are prominently found in histological sections of thyroid glands affected with Hashimoto's.

Clinical significance

A Hürthle cell adenoma is a type of thyroid benign tumor that, in rare cases, has the potential to become malignant and metastasize (Hürthle cell carcinoma).
Hürthle cells are also found in Hashimoto's thyroiditis and toxic and nontoxic nodular goiter. Hürthle cells are hypothesized to be of follicular epithelial origin.

External links

• The Doctor's Doctor at thedoctorsdoctor.com
• Illustration at thyroidmanager.org
• EndocrineWeb at endocrineweb.com
• HKU at hku.hk
• Image at upmc.edu