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Hakaru Hashimoto

1881–1934

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Surgical Endocrinopathies

Abstract

Hakaru Hashimoto was a Japanese surgeon who first described lymphocytic thyroiditis. The year 2013 marked the centennial anniversary of his original description of “struma lymphomatosa;” his observation of unique histologic features, including lymphocytic infiltration, eosinophilic change to follicular cells, and interstitial fibrosis that were described in four women with goiters, were treated with thyroidectomy. His work was published in a German journal in 1912 and went unnoticed for over 40 years. At the time of his original description, Hashimoto realized that some stimulus was responsible for the reactive changes he found, but he admitted that he did not know what that stimulus was. Due to his sudden and untimely death in 1934 at the age of 52, he was never able to witness the impact of his discovery.

It was not until 1956 when a link between antibodies to thyroid cells present in the serum of patients and Hashimoto’s disease was made. Hashimoto’s disease was the first organ in which an immune etiology to a specific disease process was described. Over time, our understanding of the immunologic pathways involved in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis has evolved. We now recognize the association of this disease with other autoimmune diseases and cancers of the thyroid gland. We know that this disease is far more prevalent and complex than originally thought. Hakaru Hashimoto’s initial description of this disease was the necessary first step to our current-day understanding of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. His contributions to the fields of endocrinology and autoimmune disease are immense and frequently underappreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Sapna Nagar MD

  2. Endocrine Surgery Research Program, Department of Surgery, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Peter Angelos MD, PhD

Authors
  1. Sapna Nagar MD
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  2. Peter Angelos MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Sapna Nagar MD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Divisions of General Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

    Janice L. Pasieka

  2. Department of Surgery, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, USA

    James A. Lee

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Nagar, S., Angelos, P. (2015). Hakaru Hashimoto. In: Pasieka, J., Lee, J. (eds) Surgical Endocrinopathies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13662-2_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13662-2_8

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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