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Thyroid cancer is the most common malignant tumor of the endocrine system, and its incidence is increasing year by year showing younger trend. The pathological types of thyroid cancer are papillary carcinoma, follicular carcinoma, medullary carcinoma and undifferentiated carcinoma. Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) are the two common types of thyroid cancer. Since MTC and PTC have different biological origins, invasiveness and prognosis. Therefore, the occurrence of both medullary carcinoma and papillary carcinoma is very rare and rarely reported in China and abroad and the treatment is challenging. In this paper, we review the pathogenesis, ancillary tests, diagnosis and treatment of this disease, with the aim of providing reference for clinical treatment of patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma complicated by papillary carcinoma.
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In recent years, clinical applications of robotic thyroid surgery have been gradually promoted with the continuous improvement of the da Vinci robotic surgical system. Unlike traditional open surgery, robotic thyroid surgery mainly adopts remote access, which has many advantages, such as magnified high-definition 3D view and hand vibration stabilization. The rates and causes of postoperative complications differ due to different approaches, view angles, and operation sequences. This paper presents the literature on both transoral and bilateral areolar axillary approaches in robotic thyroid surgery, focusing on five common complications under both approaches, including laryngeal recurrent nerve injury and hypoparathyroidism, to provide theoretical support for the standardization of robotic thyroid surgery.
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Objective:To investigate the clinical effectiveness of da Vinci robotics in thyroid surgery.Methods:304 cases of robotic thyroid surgery performed by the same experienced surgeon at the Department of Thyroid Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University during the period from Apr. 3, 2020 to Nov. 5, 2021 were prospectively included, and the operation time, operation type, postoperative drainage, postoperative hospital stay, total number of lymph node dissection and number of positive lymph nodes, operation complications, and postoperative pain level of all patients were counted. The learning curve was plotted by applying the moving average method, divided into the initial stage and the mature stage, and the differences in surgical outcomes and surgical complications between the two stages were compared. SPSS 23.0 was applied for statistical analysis, and t-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used for comparison of measurement data, and χ2 test was used for comparison of count data. Result:All surgeries were completed successfully without conversion to open cases, including 29 males and 275 females, with a mean age of (33.8±8.9) years and a range of 27-41 years. The mean body mass index (BMI) was (22.9±3.6) kg/m 2 and a range of 20.5-25.4 kg/m 2. The median operative time was 140 min, the median postoperative drainage was 52.5 ml, and the median postoperative hospital stay was 3 days. The mean number of lymph nodes cleared was 4.4±3.5, and the mean number of positive lymph nodes was 0.9±1.7. The incidence of postoperative transient laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury was 3.3%, and the incidence of transient hypoparathyroidism was 0.7%. A significant decrease in operative time occurred after the 26th case and subsequently stabilized. Compared with the initial stage of the learning curve, the mature stage had a shorter operative time (146.0±36.5 vs 198.7±56.7 min, P<0.001) , a lower incidence of temporary RLN injury (2.5% vs 11.5%, P<0.05) , and a lower percentage of benign tumor surgery (12.2% vs 26.9%, P<0.05) . Conclusion:The application of robotic technology in thyroid surgery is safe and reliable, and its successful implementation should follow a corresponding learning curve, from easy to difficult, with different surgical approaches selected according to the patient’s condition, wishes, and the operator’s technical level.
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Robotic surgical systems are gradually being used in minimally invasive surgery with their advantages of high-definition magnified 3D images, stable surgical field and flexible operation. The change of surgical approach and the narrow operating space in robotic thyroid surgery have made it more difficult to identify and protect the laryngeal nerve, and the application of nerve monitoring has been limited. Many researchers have attempted to improve the monitoring equipment and probe placement to make intraoperative neuromonitoring techniques work well in robotic thyroid surgery. In this paper, we seek effective ways to protect the laryngeal nerve in robotic thyroid surgery, and lay the foundation for a more minimally invasive and standardized development of this technology.
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Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a rare endocrine tumor characterized by high malignancy, early metastasis and easy recurrence. Sporadic medullary thyroid carcinoma (sMTC) is the main pathological type of MTC, accounting for about 75%. Compared with hMTC which has more clear germline mutations in the RET gene, the pathogenesis of sMTC is still unclear. We mainly retrospectively reviewed the characteristics of gene variants and the associations of their gene variants with tumor risk, including RET gene variants, somatic RAS gene variants, CDKN gene variants and other gene variants, aiming to provide novel directions for the evaluation of patients in terms of etiology.
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Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is an endocrine tumor originating from the parafollicular cells of the thyroid gland.The mutation of RET gene has been considered as the molecular basis of MTC.Different types of MTC have different RET mutation sites,and the corresponding clinical manifestations and prognosis are also very different.RET gene detection is helpful for individual accurate gene diagnosis,molecular risk assessment,individual analysis and early prevention management.Nowadays,targeted therapy for RET gene mutations in MTC has developed rapidly.Some of those drugs,which have been approved for clinical application,bring new hope for advanced MTC.
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Objective To examine the interleukin-27 (IL-27) levels in the serum of the patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and healthy controls (HCs) and explore the correlation of the serum IL-27 level with disease severity.Methods Serum concentrations of IL-27 from 39 patients with NMO and 39 HCs were measured by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Mann-Whitney U test was performed to analyze the difference in the IL-27 levels between the NMO group and the HCs.Spearman's rank correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlations of serum IL-27 levels with clinical parameters (EDSS,spinal cord lesion length,annual relapse rate and antibody titers of AQP-4) of NMO.Results The serum IL-27 levels were significantly lower in NMO group than in HCs (P＜0.001).Serum IL-27 levels were negatively correlated with EDSS,total length of spinal cord lesion identified by MRI at the sampling,and the average relapse rate during two-year follow-up (r=-0.439,P=0.010;r=-0.434,P=0.006;r=-0.451,P=0.031).There was no significant correlation between IL-27 levels and antibody titers of AQP-4 (r=-0.027,P=0.871).Multivariate regression analysis showed that serum IL-27 levels were negatively correlated with EDSS (B=-0.025,P=0.023).Conclusion IL-27 may participate in the pathogenic process of NMO and might be a prognosis marker of the disease.
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Objective To examine the interleukin-27 (IL-27) levels in the serum of the patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and healthy controls (HCs) and explore the correlation of the serum IL-27 level with disease severity.Methods Serum concentrations of IL-27 from 39 patients with NMO and 39 HCs were measured by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Mann-Whitney U test was performed to analyze the difference in the IL-27 levels between the NMO group and the HCs.Spearman's rank correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlations of serum IL-27 levels with clinical parameters (EDSS,spinal cord lesion length,annual relapse rate and antibody titers of AQP-4) of NMO.Results The serum IL-27 levels were significantly lower in NMO group than in HCs (P＜0.001).Serum IL-27 levels were negatively correlated with EDSS,total length of spinal cord lesion identified by MRI at the sampling,and the average relapse rate during two-year follow-up (r=-0.439,P=0.010;r=-0.434,P=0.006;r=-0.451,P=0.031).There was no significant correlation between IL-27 levels and antibody titers of AQP-4 (r=-0.027,P=0.871).Multivariate regression analysis showed that serum IL-27 levels were negatively correlated with EDSS (B=-0.025,P=0.023).Conclusion IL-27 may participate in the pathogenic process of NMO and might be a prognosis marker of the disease.
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Objective To explore the clinical features of late-onset neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (LON?MOSD). Methods A retrospective analysis was performed to evaluate 61 patients with LONMOSD admitted to our hospital from January 2010 to May 2015. Results (1) The median age at onset was 57 (53, 63) years, male/female was 1∶3.7. Thirty-two patients (52.5%) had transverse myelitis (TM) and 16 patients (26.2%) had optic neuritis (ON) at the disease onset. Fifty-one patients (83.6%) experienced recurrent attacks. Forty patients (65.6%) showed abnormal brain magnetic resonance imag?ing (MRI). Spinal cord MRI showed more frequently present in thoracic regions (39.3%). (2) There were no significant differ?ences in clinical features between AQP-4 seropositive and seronegative groups. (3) By Spearman analysis, it was obvious that EDSS scores at acute phase and remission were positively correlated to AQP-4 antibody levels (rs=0.389, P0.05;rs=0.096, P>0.05). Conclusion LONMOSD patients are more prone to present with TM at onset and have more lesions in thoracic spinal cord and brain. The AQP-4 antibody titres can indicate the severity of disease in acute phase.
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Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of thyroglobulin measurement in fine-needle aspiration biopsy(FNA-Tg).Methods This study included 63 patients with thyroid cancer or with enlarged lymph nodes during the follow-up from Aug.2010 to Jun.2012.Ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration was done in the 63 patients with 79 suspicious enlarged lymph nodes.Then thyroglobulin(Tg) in FNA washout fluid and serum Tg were assayed with electrochemiluminescenceimmunoassay(ECLIA).Diagnostic sensitivity,specificity and area under the ROC curve were evaluated according to 5 predetermined threshold levels:FNA-Tg/serum-Tg ＞ 1,mean + 2SD of node-negative patients,10 ng/ml,optimal operating point of ROC curve and 1000 ng/ml.Results The sensitivity value was 90.70％,90.70％,95.35％,90.70％ and 65.12％ respectively on the 5 threshold level,significantly lower than those on the threshold level of 1000 ng/ml(P ＜0.05).The specificity value was 97.22％,91.67％,72.22％,97.22％ and 100％ (P ＞0.05) on those threshold levels,significantly lower than those on the threshold level of 10 ng/ml (P ＜0.05).The area under the ROC curve was 0.940,0.912,0.838,0.940 and 0.826 respectively.There was no statistical difference(P ＞0.05).Conclusion Selecting FNA-Tg/serum-Tg ＞ 1 as a positive threshold value can be a secondary diagnosis of lymph nodes metastasis in patients with papillary thyroid cancer.
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Objective To analyze prevention and management of lymphatic fistula after cervical lymph node dissection in thyroid carcinoma.Methods Clinical data of 9 cases of lymphatic fistula following neck dissection were analyzed retrospectively from Jan.2004 to Apr.2009.Results Of the 9 cases,4 cases had chylous fistula(3 were on the leftside and 1 was on the rightside),1 case had chylotborax,1 case had pleural effusion lymph,and 3 cases showed light yellow lymph.AII patients were cured finally by conservative methods.Conclusions Most lymphatic fistula can be cured by non-surgical treatment.Surgeons need to be familiar with the anatomic structure of neck lymphatic vessels.
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ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism and prevention of invisible injury of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) system in thyroid surgery, with the application of intraoperative neuromonitoring ( IONM ) system. MethodsThe type of invisible RLN injury and its protection with the application of IONM system were analyzed. ResultsThe causes of invisible RLN injury mainly included stretching of Berry ligament or the tumor,contusion, thermal injury, cutting of silk and suction injury. RLN invisible injury was recoverable through neurotrophic and symptomatic treatment. No permanent vocal cord paralysis occurred. ConclusionsWith the application of IONM system, some invisible type of RLN injuries can be found. The risk of RLN injury can be reduced if the surgical techniques are improved with the development of study on mechanism of IONM system.
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Objective To define the expression of Shh/Gli1,the key elements of Hedgehog signaling pathway in papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC) and to explore the relationship between the expression of Shh/Gli1 and clinical significance.Methods The expression of Shh and Gli1 was examined in 142 cases of PTC tissues and adjacent tumor thyroid tissues as control by immunohistochemistry.The relationship between the expression of Shh/Gli1 and clinical characteristics of PTC patients was analyzed.Results The positive rate of the cytoplasm Shh expression and the nuclear Gli1 expression was 64.1% and 47.9% ,respectively.Significant difference was found between normal thyroid tissues and PTC.The research showed that the expression of Shh/Gli1 was related to the tumor size,clinical stages and lymph node metastasis,Shh was more significantly related to the tumor size(P ＜0.01) and Gli1 was more significantly related to the lymph node metastasis (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions Varying expression of the main ligand Shh and transcription factor Gli1 in Hedgehog signaling pathway was found in PTC.The expression of Shh/Gli1 was related to the tumor size,clinical stage and lymph node metastasis,indicating that the aberrant activation of Shh signaling pathway plays some roles in PTC.Shh/Gli1 may be indicators for prognosis and ideal targets for therapy against PTC.
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Objective To find new way to reduce non-recurrent laryngeal nerve (NRLN) injuries by applying intraoperative neuromonitoring(IONM) to identify NRLN in thyroidectomy. Methods Records of 279 patients who underwent complex thyroidectomy by applying IONM to identify and monitor RLN from Mar. 2009 to Jan. 2010 were veviewed. We proposed the skills to identify and monitor NRLN and predict RLN varition through exploring vagus nerve and RLN before RLN dissection. Results 6 cases NRLN located on the right side were all accurately identified by IONM, thus no injury of NRLN occurred during thyroid operations. Conclusions NRLN is difficult to be predicted preoperatively and identified by naked eyes. The application of IONM to predict, identify and monitor NRLN could remarkably reduce the possibility of NRLN injury.
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Objectives To compare the characteristics of myasthenia gravis (MG) with different antibodies.Methods The muscle specific receptor tyrosine kinase (MuSk) and acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibodies were detected in the sera of 119 MG patients,and fluoroimmunoprecipitation assay and cell based assay were applied. The clinical features of AChR-Ab positive,MuSK-Ab positive and serum negative MG patients were compared.Results There were 90 AChR-Ab positive sera tested out from the 119 MG sera,and 5 sera found with MuSK-Ab in the 29 AChR-Ab negative sera.There was no significant difference among the three groups regarding sex and age at onset.There were 3/5 of MuSK-Ab positive patients with predominantly bulbar paralysis,2/5 of MuSK-Ab positive patients were classified as MGFA Ⅲ to Ⅴ,and 79.2% (19/24) of serum negative patients were classified as MGFA Ⅰ.There was significantly positive relation between the levels of MuSK antibodies and disease severity (r=0.941,P=0.014).Neither thymic hyperplasia nor hymoma were found in MuSK-Ab positive patients.Conclusions MuSK antibodies are only detected out in the sera without AChR-Ab.The MuSK-Ab positive patients are mainly involved bulbar muscles,and without thymus abnormality.MuSK-MG is different with the AChR MG.