Preoperative and postoperative optimisation of patients undergoing thyroid surgery: a multicentre quality improvement project at Barts Health NHS Trust.

Hypocalcaemia following thyroid surgery can occur in up to 38% of patients. With over 7100 thyroid surgeries performed in 2018 in the UK, this is a common postoperative complication. Undertreated hypocalcaemia can result in cardiac arrhythmias and death. Preventing adverse events from hypocalcaemia requires preoperative identification and treatment of at-risk patients with vitamin D deficiency, timely recognition of postoperative hypocalcaemia and prompt appropriate treatment with calcium supplementation. This project aimed to design and implement a perioperative protocol for prevention, detection and management of post-thyroidectomy hypocalcaemia. A retrospective audit of thyroid surgeries (n=67; October 2017 to June 2018) was undertaken to establish baseline practice of (1) preoperative vitamin D levels assessment, (2) postoperative calcium checks and incidence of postoperative hypocalcaemia and (3) management of postoperative hypocalcaemia. A multidisciplinary team approach following quality improvement principles was then used to design a perioperative management protocol with all relevant stakeholders involved. After dissemination and implementation, the above measures were reassessed prospectively (n=23; April-July 2019). The percentage of patients having their preoperative vitamin D measured increased from 40.3% to 65.2%. Postoperative day-of-surgery calcium checks increased from 76.1% to 87.0%. Hypocalcaemia was detected in 26.8% of patients before and 30.43% of patients after protocol implementation. The postoperative component of the protocol was followed in 78.3% of patients. Limitations include low number of patients which precluded from analysis of the impact of the protocol on length of stay. Our protocol provides a foundation for preoperative risk stratification and prevention, early detection and subsequent management of hypocalcaemia in thyroidectomy patients. This aligns with enhanced recovery protocols. Moreover, we offer suggestions for others to build on this quality improvement project with the aim to further advance the perioperative care of thyroidectomy patients.

Performance evaluation of scoring systems for predicting post-operative hypertension cure in primary aldosteronism.

OBJECTIVE: Hypertension cure following adrenalectomy in unilateral primary aldosteronism is not guaranteed. Its likelihood is associated with pre-operative parameters, which have been variably combined in six different predictive scoring systems. The relative performance of these systems is currently unknown. The objective of this work was to identify the best performing scoring system for predicting hypertension cure following adrenalectomy for primary aldosteronism. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis in a single tertiary referral centre. PATIENTS: Eighty-seven adult patients with unilateral primary aldosteronism who had undergone adrenalectomy between 2004 and 2018 for whom complete data sets were available to calculate all scoring systems. MEASUREMENTS: Prediction of hypertension cure by each of the six scoring systems. RESULTS: Hypertension cure was achieved in 36/87 (41.4%) patients within the first post-operative year, which fell to 18/71 (25.4%) patients at final follow-up (median 53 months, P = .002). Analysis of receiver operating characteristic area under the curves for the different scoring systems identified a difference in performance at early, but not late, follow-up. For all systems, the area under the curve was lower at early compared with late follow-up and compared to performance in the cohorts in which they were originally defined. CONCLUSIONS: No single scoring system performed significantly better than all others when applied in our cohort, although two did display particular advantages. It remains to be determined how best such scoring systems can be incorporated into the routine clinical care of patients with PA.

Low-grade Cortisol Cosecretion Has Limited Impact on ACTH-stimulated AVS Parameters in Primary Aldosteronism.

CONTEXT: In primary aldosteronism, cosecretion of cortisol may alter cortisol-derived adrenal venous sampling indices. OBJECTIVE: To identify whether cortisol cosecretion in primary aldosteronism alters adrenal venous sampling parameters and interpretation. DESIGN: Retrospective case-control study. SETTING: A tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: 144 adult patients with primary aldosteronism who had undergone both adrenocorticotropic hormone-stimulated adrenal venous sampling and dexamethasone suppression testing between 2004 and 2018. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Adrenal venous sampling indices including adrenal vein aldosterone/cortisol ratios and the selectivity, lateralization, and contralateral suppression indices. RESULTS: 21 (14.6%) patients had evidence of cortisol cosecretion (defined as a failure to suppress cortisol to ≤50 nmol/L post dexamethasone). Patients with evidence of cortisol cosecretion had a higher inferior vena cava cortisol concentration (P = .01) than those without. No difference was observed between the groups in terms of selectivity index, lateralization index, lateralization of aldosterone excess, or adrenal vein cannulation rate. CONCLUSIONS: Cortisol cosecretion alters some parameters in adrenocorticotrophic hormone-stimulated adrenal venous sampling but does not result in alterations in patient management.

Atypical presentations of parathyroid gland pathology: A pictorial review.

Primary hyperparathyroidism is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. It is in this day and age, an eminently treatable condition which relies heavily on preoperative imaging to localise enlarged parathyroid glands. The imaging appearances of parathyroid gland enlargement are varied; this paper seeks to address some of its more unusual manifestations with an emphasis on its atypical enhancement patterns, mimics and associations. An enlarged glands may also present as an 'incidentaloma' in head and neck imaging performed for entirely different indications, or as part of sporadic or familial syndrome. Radiologists are in a good position to expedite the relevant investigations and curative treatment, and knowledge of the spectrum of imaging appearances is crucial.

Impact of thyroiditis on 131I uptake during ablative therapy for differentiated thyroid cancer.

CONTEXT: Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) is usually treated by thyroidectomy followed by radioiodine ablation and generally has a good prognosis. It may now be possible to limit the amount of treatment without impacting on efficacy. It is not known whether coexistent thyroiditis impacts on radioiodine uptake or on its potential efficacy, but this could provide a rationale for modification to current therapeutic protocols. DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort study of radioiodine uptake on imaging after radioiodine ablation for DTC in patients with and without concurrent thyroiditis. All patients with histologically confirmed DTC treated with radioiodine ablation after thyroidectomy in a single centre from 2012 to 2015 were included. The primary outcome assessed was the presence of low or no iodine uptake on post-ablation scan, as reported by a nuclear medicine physician blinded to the presence or absence of thyroiditis. RESULTS: One hundred thirty patients with available histopathology results were included. Thyroiditis was identified in 42 post-operative specimens and 15 of these patients had low or no iodine uptake on post-ablation scan, compared to only 2 of 88 patients without thyroiditis (P < 0.0001) with further data analysis dividing the groups by ablation activity received (1100 MBq or 3000 MBq). CONCLUSIONS: Concurrent thyroiditis may impair the uptake of radioactive iodine in management of DTC. Given that patients with DTC and thyroiditis already have a good prognosis, adopting a more selective approach to this step in therapy may be indicated. Large, longitudinal studies would be required to determine if omitting radioactive iodine therapy from those patients with concurrent thyroiditis has a measurable impact on mortality from thyroid cancer.

Outcomes of annual surveillance imaging in an adult and paediatric cohort of succinate dehydrogenase B mutation carriers.

OBJECTIVE: For 'asymptomatic carriers' of the succinate dehydrogenase subunit B (SDHB) gene mutations, there is currently no consensus as to the appropriate modality or frequency of surveillance imaging. We present the results of a surveillance programme of SDHB mutation carriers. DESIGN: Review of clinical outcomes of a surveillance regimen in patients identified to have an SDHB gene mutation, based on annual MRI, in a single UK tertiary referral centre. PATIENTS: A total of 92 patients were identified with an SDHB gene mutation. a total of 27 index patients presented with symptoms, and 65 patients were identified as asymptomatic carriers. MEASUREMENTS: Annual MRI of the abdomen, with alternate year MRI of the neck, thorax and pelvis. Presence of an SDHB-related tumour included paraganglioma (PGL), phaeochromocytoma (PCC), renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST). RESULTS: A total of 43 PGLs, eight PCCs and one RCC occurred in the 27 index patients (23 solitary, four synchronous, five metachronous). A further 15 SDHB-related tumours (11 PGLs, three RCCs, one GIST) were identified in the asymptomatic carriers on surveillance screening (25% of screened carriers): 10 on the first surveillance imaging and five on subsequent imaging 2-6 years later. A total of 11 patients had malignant disease. CONCLUSIONS: SDHB-related tumours are picked up as early as 2 years after initial negative surveillance scan. We believe the high malignancy rate and early identification rate of tumours justifies the use of 1-2 yearly imaging protocols and MRI-based imaging could form the mainstay of surveillance in this patient group thereby minimizing radiation exposure.

A case of thyroid storm complicated by acute hepatitis due to propylthiouracil treatment.

UNLABELLED: A 57-year-old female presented 17 days after treatment with radioactive iodine (RAI) for difficult-to-control hyperthyroidism. She was febrile, had a sinus tachycardia, and was clinically thyrotoxic. Her thyroid function tests showed a suppressed TSH <0.02 mU/l, with free thyroxine (FT4) >75 pmol/l and total triiodothyronine (TT3) 6.0 nmol/l. She was diagnosed with thyroid storm and was managed with i.v. fluids, propylthiouracil (PTU) 200 mg four times a day, prednisolone 30 mg once daily and propanolol 10 mg three times a day. She gradually improved over 2 weeks and was discharged home on PTU with ß blockade. On clinic review 10 days later, it was noted that, although she was starting to feel better, she had grossly abnormal liver function (alanine transaminase (ALT) 852 U/l, bilirubin 46 µmol/l, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) 303 U/l, international normalized ratio (INR) 0.9, platelets 195×10(9)/l). She was still mildly thyrotoxic (TSH <0.02 mU/l, FT4 31 pmol/l, TT3 1.3 nmol/l). She was diagnosed with acute hepatitis secondary to treatment with PTU. Ultrasound showed mild hepatic steatosis. PTU was stopped and she was managed with fluids and prednisolone 60 mg once daily and continued ß blockade. Her liver function gradually improved over 10 days (bilirubin 9 µmol/l, ALT 164 U/l, ALP 195 U/l, INR 0.9, platelets 323×10(9)/l) with conservative management and had normalised by clinic review 3 weeks later. This case highlights the potentially fatal, but rare, complications associated with both RAI and PTU, namely, thyroid storm and acute hepatitis respectively. LEARNING POINTS: Thyroid storm is an important, albeit rare, endocrinological emergency.Thyroid storm following RAI treatment is extremely rare.Management is with i.v. fluids, ß blockade, anti-thyroid drugs and steroids.High dose glucocorticoid steroids can block the peripheral conversion of T4 to active T3.Liver dysfunction, acute hepatitis and potential hepatic failure are significant adverse drug reactions known to occur with PTU treatment. Supervising clinicians should be vigilant for evidence of this developing and intervene accordingly.Clinicians need to be aware of possible interactions between regular paracetamol use and PTU in predisposing to liver impairment.

Diagnosing unilateral primary aldosteronism - comparison of a clinical prediction score, computed tomography and adrenal venous sampling.

CONTEXT: In patients with primary aldosteronism (PA), adrenalectomy is potentially curative for those correctly identified as having unilateral excessive aldosterone production. It has been suggested that a recently developed and published clinical prediction score (CPS) may correctly identify some patients as having unilateral disease, without recourse to adrenal venous sampling. OBJECTIVE: We have applied the CPS to a large cohort of PA patients with defined and documented outcomes. We also incorporated a minor modification to the CPS and a radiological grading score (RGS) into our analysis to assess whether its performance could be augmented. RESULTS: A total of 75 patients with a robust diagnosis following bilateral adrenal venous cannulation and/or strictly defined surgical outcome were analysed. Applying the CPS to this group of patients produced a sensitivity of 38·8% and a specificity of 88·5% of correctly identifying unilateral aldosterone production. Using a suggested modification to the CPS, in which different levels of hypokalaemia were given different weightings, the sensitivity rose to 40·8%, with an identical specificity. Using the RGS alone improved sensitivity to 91·7%, but specificity was reduced to 62·5%. CONCLUSION: Applying the recently developed CPS to this cohort of patients, it was not possible to reproduce the 100% specificity reported in the original publication. Using the modified score or incorporating the RGS did not improve its performance. In this cohort, we were unable to show superiority of the CPS over an imaging-based strategy. CPS may have a role in guiding clinical decision-making, especially in those whose adrenal venous sampling (AVS) has been unsuccessful.

A "growing cause" of diabetic ketoacidosis.

The progress of a young woman presenting with diabetic ketoacidosis is described. She was managed as for a new presentation of type 1 diabetes, but was subsequently diagnosed with acromegaly due to a large pituitary tumour. Following treatment for this, and relative normalisation of growth hormone levels, she was able to stop insulin completely. Subsequently, an oral glucose tolerance test showed no evidence of abnormal glucose tolerance and she remains non-diabetic.