Completion thyroidectomy: is timing important for transcervical and remote access approaches?

Completion thyroidectomy (CT) is employed after lobectomy when histopathological results mandates total removal of the gland as in case of well differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). It is also employed as a second stage thyroid surgery when unfavorable events occur as in recurrent laryngeal nerve injury or when the surgeon finds out the case is beyond his/her expertise in an attempt to protect the contralateral side and allowing time for recovery or for an expert surgeon to help.

Parathyroid cysts: the Latin-American experience.

BACKGROUND: Parathyroid cyst is an infrequent and unsuspected disease. There are more than 300 hundred cases reported in the world literature, a few of them are from Latin America. The experience of our centers and a review of the cases are presented. METHODS: Case report of a series of patients with parathyroid cyst from our institutions according to the CARE guidelines (Case Reports). A search of Medline, Embase, BIREME (Biblioteca Regional de Medicina) LILACS (Literatura Latinoamericana y del Caribe en Ciencias de la Salud), Google Scholar and Scielo (Scientific Electronic Library on Line) databases and telephonic or email communications with other experts from Latin-America was performed . RESULTS: Six patients with parathyroid cyst were found in our centers in Colombia. Most of them were managed with aspiration of the cyst. Two of them required surgery. Only one case was functional. Twelve reports from Latin America were found for a total of 18 cases in our region adding ours. CONCLUSIONS: Parathyroid cysts are uncommonly reported in Latin America. Most of them are diagnosed postoperatively. Suspicion for parathyroid cyst should be raised when a crystal clear fluid is aspirated from a cyst. The confirmation of the diagnosis may be easily done if parathyroid hormone (PTH) level is measured in the cyst fluid.

The 8q24 rs6983267G variant is associated with increased thyroid cancer risk.

The G allele of the rs6983267 single-nucleotide polymorphism, located on chromosome 8q24, has been associated with increased risk of several cancer types. The association between rs6983267G and thyroid cancer (TC) has been tested in different populations, mostly of European ancestry, and has led to inconclusive results. While significant associations have been reported in the British and Polish populations, no association has been detected in populations from Spain, Italy and the USA. To further investigate the role of rs6983267G in TC susceptibility, we evaluated rs6983267 genotypes in three populations of different continental ancestry (British Isles, Colombia and Japan), providing a total of 3067 cases and 8575 controls. We detected significant associations between rs6983267G and TC in the British Isles (odds ratio (OR)=1.19, 95% CI: 1.11-1.27, P=4.03×10(-7)), Japan (OR=1.20, 95% CI: 1.03-1.41, P=0.022) and a borderline significant association of similar effect direction and size in Colombia (OR=1.19, 95% CI: 0.99-1.44, P=0.069). A meta-analysis of our multi-ethnic study and previously published non-overlapping datasets, which included a total of 5484 cases and 12 594 controls, confirmed the association between rs6983267G and TC (P=1.23×10(-7), OR=1.13, 95% CI: 1.08-1.18). Our results therefore support the notion that rs6983267G is a bona fide TC risk variant that increases the risk of disease by ∼13%.

The current situation of Endocrine Surgery in Latin America.

The management of patients with surgical endocrine diseases requires a multidisciplinary team of endocrinologists, radiologists, pathologists and surgeons. As the incidence of surgical endocrine disorders has increased, Endocrine Surgery has emerged as a recognized specialty within general surgery. The number of endocrine surgeons has gradually increased worldwide, however, different from Europe and North America, the specialty has not developed enough in Latin America. We have conducted an extensive research throughout the continent in order to quantify how many trained endocrine surgeons were practicing, how many training programs exist, where we are today and where are we going in the future.

Monitorización intraoperatoria de los nervios laríngeos superior e inferior en cirugía de tiroides y paratiroides / Intraoperative monitoring of superior and inferior laryngeal nerves during thyroid and parathyroid surgery

La cirugía endocrina, y particularmente la cirugía de tiroides y paratiroides, ha experimentado múltiples cambios desde la década de los años 30 cuando se evidenció la disminución de las parálisis de las cuerdas vocales con la identificación visual del nervio laríngeo recurrente durante la cirugía. Desde entonces, nuestros esfuerzos se han encaminado a lograr una menor incidencia de estas lesiones con múltiples técnicas, siendo la neuromonitorización intraoperatoria una de las herramientas útiles, sobre todo en pacientes con factores de riesgo que tienen mayor probabilidad de lesión durante la cirugía. Este artículo pretende hacer una revisión del tema y describir la técnica de la monitorización intraoperatoria de los nervios laríngeos.

Endocrine surgery, and particularly thyroid and parathyroid surgery, has undergone many changes since the mid-30s when proper visual identification of the recurrent nerve showed a reduction in injuries to the nerve. Nowadays, intraoperative identification of the recurrent laryngeal nerve is the standard of care, and it has come to help treating those difficult patients with big thyroid or parathyroid lesions, prior surgery, vocal cord paralysis, etc. This article reviews and describes the technique of intraoperative monitoring of the laryngeal nerve.

Nervio laríngeo no recurrente en cirugía de tiroides: reporte de dos casos / Non recurrent laryngeal nerve during thyroid surgery: Two cases report

La lesión del nervio laríngeo recurrente (NLR) durante la cirugía de tiroides o de las paratiroides es la causa iatrogénica más común de la parálisis de cuerda vocal. La identificación del NLR y de una técnica quirúrgica meticulosa puede disminuir perceptiblemente la incidencia de esta complicación. El nervio laríngeo inferior no recurrente es excesivamente raro (1%). Los cirujanos necesitan conocer ampliamente la anatomía y las variantes anatómicas para evitar lesiones, ya que su existencia no es diagnosticada prequirúrgicamente. El nervio laríngeo no recurrente se asocia generalmente a una arteria subclavia derecha retroesofágica que se desprende del arco aórtico distal. El conocimiento de su existencia y técnica quirúrgica correcta prevendrá al cirujano de lesiones accidentales durante la cirugía de tiroides o paratiroides.

The damage to the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) during thyroid or parathyroid surgery is the most common iatrogenic cause of vocal cord paralysis. Identification of the recurrent laryngeal nerve and meticulous surgical technique can significantly decrease the incidence of this complication. Nonrecurrent laryngeal nerve is exceedingly rare (1%). Surgeons need know the anatomy and the anatomic anomalies to avoid injuries; the nerve anomaly is never preoperatively diagnosed. The nonrecurent laryngeal nerve is associated with a retroesophageal right subclavian artery from distal aortic arch. The awarereness of their existence combine with the correct surgical technique will prevent the surgeon from accidentally harmit during thyroid or parathyroid surgery.

Evaluación de algunos parámetros inmunológicos y epidemiológicos / pacientes con poliposis nasal de localización etmoidal / Evaluation of some immunological and epidemiological parameters in patients with ethmoidal nasal polyposis

La poliposis nasal es una enfermedad crónica inflamatoria de la mucosa rinosinusal que afecta entre 1 por ciento a 5 por ciento de la población general. Si bien se han encontrado varias citocinas implicadas en la patogénesis de la poliposis, el mecanismo fisiopatológico permanece por esclarecer. En este trabajo se determinó la presencia de Interleucina 13 (IL-13) tanto en secreción como en tejido de mucosa sana y polipoide, y se relacionó este hallazgo con la reactividad alérgica de los pacientes y el grado de infiltración por células CD4+ y CD8+ Métodos: Se estudiaron 27 pacientes con poliposis diagnosticada por TAC, de los cuales se obtuvo historia clínica completa, muestra de secreción mucosa y biopsia de tejido polipoide y de mucosa sana. Mediante ELISA se detectó la presencia de IL-13 en las secreciones del tejido nasal sano o afectado por pólipos y por inmunohistoquímica se detectaron células IL-13 + y linfocitos T CD4+ y CD8+, tanto en tejido sano como afectado. Además se realizaron pruebas cutáneas para aeroalergenos. Resultados: En todos los pólipos se encontraron células IL13 +. En todos los casos se detectaron células CD4+ y CD8+, tanto en la mucosa normal como en el tejido polipoide. Sin embargo, el grado de infiltración fue mayor en este último. No se encontró asociación entre el grado de infiltración de células IL13+, CD4+ y CD8+ con la reactividad a las pruebas cutáneas. No hubo diferencia significativa en la concentración de IL-13 en secreción mucosa de pólipo respecto a mucosa sana. No hubo correlación entre los datos demográficos y los antecedentes familiares con el grado de infiltración de células IL13+, CD4+ y CD8+. Conclusiones: Se encontró en las biopsias estudiadas una alta densidad de células positivas para IL-13. En 14/27 casos las concentraciones de IL-13 fueron mayores que las del tejido nasal normal con niveles de hasta 120 pg/ul. No se demostró asociación entre el estado alérgico con la expresión de células IL-13+, ni con el grado de infiltración de linfocitos T CD4+ y CD8.

Nasal Polyposis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the rhinosinusal mucosa that affects 1% to 5% of the general population. Several cytokines have been detected in high concentrations in polyp tissues, but the mechanisms implicated remains to be clarified. In this work the presence of Interleukine 13 (IL-13) was determined as much in secretion as in healthy mucous membrane and polyp tissue, relating this finding with the allergic reactivity of the patients and the infiltration grade for cellsCD4 + and CD8 +. Methods: We studied 27 patients with diagnosed ethmoidal nasal polyposis confirmed by computerized tomography. Secretions and biopsy specimens were taken from both polyp and healthy turbinate tissues. IL-13 ELISA technique was done in secretion samples and an immunohistochemical procedure was realized to detect IL-13+, CD4+ and CD8+ cells in biopsy specimens. Additionally, skin tests for air allergens were done. Results: IL-13+ cells were detected in all nasal polyp samples. CD4+ and CD8+ cells were found in both polyp and healthy turbinate tissues; however, the infiltration degree was higher in the nasal polyp specimens. No association was found between the degree of infiltration of IL-13+, CD4+ and CD8+ cells with the skin test reactivity. Equally concentrations of IL-13 were detected in both polyp and turbinate mucosa secretions. There was no association between the demographic data and the family history with the degree of infiltration of IL-13+, CD4+, CD8+ cells. Conclusion: Our findings confirm the presence of and increase number of IL-13+ cells in all nasal polyp specimens. In 14/27 studied cases they had concentrations of IL-13 higher than those of the nasal normal mucosa with levels of up to 120 pg / ul. There is no association between the allergic state with the IL-13+cell expression, nor with the degree of infiltration of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells.