From thyroid cartilage to thyroid gland.

The ancient Greek physicians skipped the description of thyroid gland probably due to their difficultly to understand the anatomy and the existence of this organ. Although the ancient physicians had described the disease bronchocele (Greek: Βρογχοκήλη), this disease did not correspond exactly to goiter. The first official description of this gland was made by Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564). Thomas Wharton (1614-1673) in his work Adenographia was the one who coined the term Glandulae thyreoidea.