| Ethanol injection into thyroid tissue causes either direct or indirect damage. The main pathological features consist of cellular dehydration, protein denaturation and coagulative necrosis. Ethanol may induce a direct coagulative necrosis of thyroid tissue and hemorrhagic infarction due to vascular thrombosis; a reduction of enzyme activity in the still viable cells surrounding the necrotic areas was also observed. Some follicular structures may persist, often disrupted and separated by interstitial edema. The treated nodules are surrounded by a granulomatous reaction with multinucleated giant cells. Subsequently, thyroid tissue is gradually substituted by scarring granulation tissue 9 . |
