[Von Hippel Lindau disease: about one case]

Von Hippel Lindau disease is an autosomal dominant inherited disorder secondary to a mutation of the VHL gene, localisated on the chromosome 3, which is a tumor suppressor gene. Tumoral manifestations include hemangioblastomas, renal cysts and/or tumors, pancreatic cysts and/or neuroendocrine tumors, pheochromocytomas and endolymphatic sac tumors. Early diagnosis is necessary to allow for a regular follow up of the patient and his descendants

[Results of surgery in graves disease]

The purpose of our study was to analyze the results of surgery in Graves disease, to determine the incidence of post operative complications and to discuss its status as a radical option comparatively to radioiodine therapy. This retrospective study included 100 patients who underwent surgical treatment of medical treatment after failure of anti thyroid therapy. Two sorts of thyroidectomy were performed: subtotal thyroidectomy [STT] in 65% of the cases and total thyroidectomy [TT] in 35%. Post operative complications were frequent with 9% of paralysis of the recurrent nerve. Hypocalcemic episodes occured in 23% of our patients, hypocalcemia being transcient in 9% and permanent in 14% after a first surgery and 16% after reintervention. During the first year post operative hypothyroidism was present in 58% of our cases after STT. The relapse rate during the first six month was 25% [35% after STT and 5% after TT]. Finally papillary microcarcinoma foci were found in one case [1%]. In conclusion, thyroid surgery exposes to a high morbidity [hypoparathyroidism and palsy of the recurrent nerve] and a high relapse rate. This radical option should be compared to the radioiodine therapy in order to give the patient the best therapeutic option

[Thyroid microcarcinoma]

The incidence of differentiated thyroid microcarcinoma is increasing because of the practice of total thyroidectomy and advances in pathological techniques. Prognosis is considered to he excellent but the lack of consensus on the practical management and the aggressive character of some tumours justify the analysis of the prognostic factors. We report in this retrospective study 75 cases of thyroid microcarcinoma and their characteristics. A papillary carcinoma was found in 89% of our cases, multiple loci in 15%, involvement of the local nodes in 7% and a distant metastasis in 3%. Total thyroidectomy was performed in all our cases and a radio-iodine treatment was given to 61% of our patients

Effect of iodination on histological types of types of thyroid cancers in Algeria

Thyroid carcinomas differ in their prognosis by many factors including the histological type. In this study we compared two groups of patients with thyroid cancers. The first group [Nl: 222 cases] was diagnosed during a period of prevalent iodine deficiency, between 1966 and 1978]. The patients in the second group [N2: 142] were diagnosed with thyroid carcinoma in 2000 to 2002, ten years after the introduction of an efficient iodine prophylaxis. We noted a clear increase in the frequency of papillary carcinoma [from 37% to 68.2%], a decrease in follicular carcinoma [from 33% to 20.4%] and in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma [from 21% to 3.5%]. This change in the histological profile of thyroid carcinoma into forms with a better prognosis is an argument, with many others, in favour of iodine prophylaxis

Neurofibromatosis type 1 and pheochromocytoma: about 2 cases

Patients with type 1 neurofibromatosis are predisposed to pheochromocytoma even if the incidence remains low [1%]; in these cases, the pheochromocytoma is generally symptomatic; our two cases underline the importance of systematically screening these patients for pheochromocytoma