The thyroid is resistant to infection because of the anatomical and physiological characteristics of the gland, and even though diabetes can induce a compromised immune system, thyroid infection disease is scarcely encountered in diabetic patients. Thyroid abscess formation in an asymptomatic diabetic patient is an even rarer entity. We present a case of a previously asymptomatic diabetic patient showing clinical symptoms of painful swelling in the anterior neck followed by progressing dysphagia, who was later diagnosed with thyroid abscess as a result of Klebsiella pneumoniae, complicated with esophagitis caused by the same microorganism. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of asymptomatic diabetes being clinically diagnosed with thyroid abscess as the first sign.
Keywords: Asymptomatic diabetes; Esophagitis; Thyroid abscess.