Thyroidectomy Then and Now: A 50-Year Australian Perspective.

BACKGROUND: Since the mid-1800s, thyroidectomy has transformed from a procedure associated with high to near-zero mortality. Nonetheless, surgeons must continue to strive to improve patient care. Using historical records and contemporary data, this study compares the practice and outcomes of thyroid surgery at a tertiary institution during two periods, 50 years apart. METHODS: 'The Alfred Hospital Clinical Reports' recorded all cases of surgically managed thyroid disease from 1946 to 1959. These historical cases were compared to contemporary thyroidectomy cases at the Alfred Hospital from 2007 to 2016. Cases were compared for surgical indication and post-operative outcomes. RESULTS: There were 746 patients in the historical group (mean age 53 years; 87% female) and 787 patients in the contemporary group (mean age 52 years; 80% female). The most common indication for thyroidectomy in both groups was non-toxic nodular goitre. A greater proportion of the contemporary group were diagnosed with thyroid malignancy (27% vs. 8%; p < 0.001). The contemporary group recorded significantly fewer cases of thyrotoxic crisis (2.1% vs. 0%; p = 0.001), permanent nerve palsy (4.6% vs. 0.4%; p < 0.001) and bilateral nerve palsy (1.2% vs. 0%; p = 0.01). There were no mortalities in the contemporary group, while the historical data recorded three deaths (0.44%). CONCLUSIONS: This study compared thyroid surgery in two cohorts separated by a 50-year period. While it is not surprising that outcomes of thyroidectomy have improved, this study uniquely demonstrates trends of thyroid surgery over time and areas in which further improvements may be made.

Dr. Robert G. Heath: a controversial figure in the history of deep brain stimulation.

The history of psychosurgery is filled with tales of researchers pushing the boundaries of science and ethics. These stories often create a dark historical framework for some of the most important medical and surgical advancements. Dr. Robert G. Heath, a board-certified neurologist, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst, holds a debated position within this framework and is most notably remembered for his research on schizophrenia. Dr. Heath was one of the first physicians to implant electrodes in deep cortical structures as a psychosurgical intervention. He used electrical stimulation in an attempt to cure patients with schizophrenia and as a method of conversion therapy in a homosexual man. This research was highly controversial, even prior to the implementation of current ethics standards for clinical research and often goes unmentioned within the historical narrative of deep brain stimulation (DBS). While distinction between the modern practice of DBS and its controversial origins is necessary, it is important to examine Dr. Heath's work as it allows for reflection on current neurosurgical practices and questioning the ethical implication of these advancements.

Infectious Disease Risk Associated with Contaminated Propofol Anesthesia, 1989-2014(1).

Administration of propofol, the most frequently used intravenous anesthetic worldwide, has been associated with several iatrogenic infections despite its relative safety. Little is known regarding the global epidemiology of propofol-related outbreaks and the effectiveness of existing preventive strategies. In this overview of the evidence of propofol as a source of infection and appraisal of preventive strategies, we identified 58 studies through a literature search in PubMed, Embase, and Lilacs for propofol-related infections during 1989-2014. Twenty propofol-related outbreaks have been reported, affecting 144 patients and resulting in 10 deaths. Related factors included reuse of syringes for multiple patients and prolonged exposure to the environment when vials were left open. The addition of antimicrobial drugs to the emulsion has been instituted in some countries, but outbreaks have still occurred. There remains a lack of comprehensive information on the effectiveness of measures to prevent future outbreaks.

Harvey Cushing and pituitary Case Number 3 (Mary D.): the origin of this most baffling problem in neurosurgery.

From the very beginning of his career, Harvey Williams Cushing (1869-1939) harbored a deep interest in a complex group of neoplasms that usually developed at the infundibulum. These were initially known as "interpeduncular" or "suprasellar" cysts. Cushing introduced the term "craniopharyngioma" for these lesions, which he believed represented one of the most baffling problems faced by neurosurgeons. The patient who most influenced Cushing's thinking was a 16-year-old seamstress named "Mary D.," whom he attended in December 1901, exactly the same month that Alfred Fröhlich published his seminal article describing an adiposogenital syndrome in a young boy with a pituitary cyst. Both Cushing's and Fröhlich's patients showed similar symptoms caused by the same type of tumor. Notably, Cushing and Fröhlich had met one another and became good friends in Liverpool the summer before these events took place. Their fortunate relationship led Cushing to realize that Fröhlich's syndrome represented a state of hypopituitarism and provided a useful method of diagnosing interpeduncular cysts. It is noteworthy that Cushing's very first neurosurgical procedure on a pituitary tumor was performed in the case of Mary D.'s "interpeduncular cyst," on February 21, 1902. Cushing failed to remove this lesion, which was later found during the patient's autopsy. This case was documented as Pituitary Case Number 3 in Cushing's masterpiece, The Pituitary Body and Its Disorders, published in 1912. This tumor was considered "a teratoma"; however, multiple sources of evidence suggest that this lesion actually corresponded to an adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma. Unfortunately, the pathological specimens of this lesion were misplaced, and this prompted Cushing's decision to retain all specimens and documents of the cases he would operate on throughout his career. Accordingly, Mary D.'s case crystallized the genesis of the Cushing Brain Tumor Registry, one of Cushing's major legacies to neurosurgery. In this paper the authors analyze the case of Mary D. and the great influence it had on Cushing's conceptions of the pituitary gland and its afflictions, and on the history of pituitary surgery.

[Historical Review of Cesarean Section at King's Maternity Hospital and Midwifery School Zagreb 1908-1918].

This article presents a historical review of the performance of 23 cesarean sections at the King's Maternity Hospital and Midwifery School in Zagreb during the 1908-1918 period. Following prenatal screening by midwives and doctors in the hospital, deliveries in high risk pregnant women were performed at maternity hospitals, not at home. The most common indication for cesarean section was narrowed pelvis in 65.2% of women, while postpartum febrile condition was the most common complication in the puerperium. Maternal mortality due to sepsis after the procedure was 8.69% and overall perinatal mortality was 36.3% (stillbirths and early neonatal deaths).

H.M. never again! An analysis of H.M.'s epilepsy and treatment.

On August 25, 1953, the patient H.M., aged 27, underwent a bilateral surgical destruction of the inner aspect of his temporal lobes performed by William Beecher Scoville with the aim to control H.M.'s drug refractory epileptic seizures and alleviate their impact on his quality of life. Postoperatively, H.M. presented for 55 years a "striking and totally unexpected grave loss of recent memories". This paper reports what we know about H.M.'s epilepsy before and after surgery and puts forward arguments supporting the syndromic classification of his epilepsy. We attempted to elucidate what could have been the rationale, in 1953, of Scoville's decision to carry out a bilateral ablation of H.M.'s medial temporal lobe structures, and we examined whether there was any convincing argument published before 1953 suggesting that bilateral hippocampal ablation could result in a permanent and severe amnesia. Our a posteriori analysis of H.M.'s medical history suggested that he was most probably suffering from idiopathic generalized epilepsy with absences and generalized convulsive seizures worsened by high dosage phenytoin treatment, or less probably from cryptogenic frontal lobe epilepsy. Importantly, he did not have temporal lobe epilepsy. Scoville based his proposal of bilateral mesial temporal lobe ablation on his experience as a psychosurgeon and on the assumption that the threshold of generalized epileptic activity could be lowered by some kind of hippocampal dysfunction potentially epileptic in nature. Given the scanty information on the link between amnesia and medial temporal lobe lesions that was available in humans in 1953, one can understand why Scoville was so surprised by the "striking and totally unexpected" memory loss he observed in H.M. after the bilateral ablation of his mesial temporal lobe structures.

The truth and coherence behind the concept of overdrainage of cerebrospinal fluid in hydrocephalic patients.

INTRODUCTION: Overdrainage, siphoning, and slit-ventricle syndrome are well-documented complications of shunting in hydrocephalic patients. Despite the prevalence of these conditions, their mechanisms are still not fully understood. In this paper, the authors trace the concept of overdrainage and the related phenomena of siphoning and slit-ventricle syndrome. PURPOSE: To provide a historical overview of overdrainage and to reignite discussion of a topic that has been settled. METHODS AND RESULTS: A medical literature search and review were performed via Google Scholar. Of 565 publications, 3 primary papers were identified and a timeline was developed demonstrating the convergence of the aforementioned concepts. From the primary papers, 25 relevant publications were selected and further analyzed searching for hypothesis, evidence, and conclusions. CONCLUSION: Overdrainage, siphoning, and slit-ventricle syndrome are associated concepts that have converged into a pathophysiological theory where siphoning of CSF leads to overdrainage, which is then hypothesized to cause slit-ventricle syndrome in a small subset of patients. Our data suggests that while there have been numerous reports regarding overdrainage and its consequences, the evidence is not as robust as currently presumed and this subject requires prospective exploration.

Surgical treatment of trapeziometacarpal joint arthritis: a historical perspective.

BACKGROUND: The trapeziometacarpal (TMC) joint's unique anatomy and biomechanics render it susceptible to degeneration. For 60 years, treatment of the painful joint has been surgical when nonoperative modalities have failed. Dozens of different operations have been proposed, including total or subtotal resection of the trapezium or resection and implant arthroplasty. Proponents initially report high levels of patient satisfaction, but longer-term reports sometimes fail to support initial good results. To date, no one procedure has been shown to be superior to another. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: This review sought to identify factors responsible for the development of many different procedures to treat the same pathology and factors influencing whether procedures remain in the armamentarium or are abandoned. METHODS: I performed a nonsystematic historical review of English-language surgical journals using the key words "carpometacarpal arthritis", or "trapeziometacarpal arthritis", and "surgery" in combination with "history" using the PubMed database. In addition, bibliographies of pertinent articles were reviewed. RESULTS: The factors that led to many surgical innovations appear to be primarily theoretical concerns about the shortcomings of previously described procedures, especially about proximal migration of the thumb metacarpal after trapezial resection. Longevity of a particular procedure seems to be related to simplicity of design, especially for prosthetic arthroplasty. The evolution of surgery for TMC joint arthritis both parallels and diverges from that in other joints. For example, for most degenerated joints (even many in the hand), treatment evolved from resection arthroplasty to implant arthroplasty. In contrast, for the TMC joint, the 60-year-old procedure of trapezial resection continues to be performed by a majority of surgeons; many modifications of that procedure have been offered, but none have shown better pain reduction or increased function over the original procedure. In parallel, many differently designed prosthetic total or hemijoint arthroplasties have been proposed and performed, again with as yet unconvincing evidence that this technology improves results over those obtained by simple resection arthroplasty. CONCLUSIONS: Many procedures have been described to treat TMC joint arthritis, from simple trapezial resection to complex soft tissue arthroplasty to prosthetic arthroplasty. In the absence of evidence for the superiority of any one procedure, surgeons should consider using established procedures rather than adopting novel ones, though novel procedures can and should be tested in properly designed clinical trials. Tissue-engineered solutions are an important area of current research but have not yet reached the clinical trial stage.

Choroid plexus coagulation for hydrocephalus not due to CSF overproduction: a review.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to review the role of choroid plexus coagulation (CPC) for hydrocephalus not due to CSF overproduction. METHODS: The literatures covering CPC/cauterization/extirpation and ablation searched through PubMed were reviewed. RESULTS: The history of CPC goes back to early 1900s by open surgery. It has evolved to mainly an endoscopic surgery since 1930s. With the development of other treatment methods and the understanding of CSF dynamics, the application of CPC dramatically decreased by 1970s. In late 2000, there was a resurgence of CPC in combination with endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) performed in Africa. CONCLUSIONS: CPC remains one of the options for the treatment of hydrocephalus in selected cases. CPC might provide a temporary reduction in CSF production to allow the further development of CSF absorption in infant. Adding CPC to ETV for infants with communicating hydrocephalus may increase the shunt independent rate thus avoiding the consequence of late complication related to the shunt device. This is important for patients who are difficult to be followed up, due to geographical and/or socioeconomic constrains. Adding CPC to ETV for obstructive hydrocephalus in infant may also increase the successful rate. Furthermore, CPC may be an option for cases with high chance of shunt complication such as hydranencephaly. In addition, CPC may act as an adjunct therapeutic measure for complex cases such as multiloculated hydrocephalus. In comparison with the traditional treatment of CSF shunting, the role of CPC needs to be further evaluated in particular concerning the neurocognitive development.

Clinical management of petroclival meningiomas and the eternal quest for preservation of quality of life: personal experiences over a period of 20 years.

BACKGROUND: Within the realm of neurosurgery, petroclival meningiomas are regarded as probably the most difficult tumour to be treated by microsurgery. This is due to the not infrequently large size of the tumours which, although predominantly located in the posterior fossa, may occupy more than one cranial compartment, with often significant space-occupying effect and brain stem compression. Frequent tight brain stem adherence as well as encasement of the basilar artery, its perforators and cranial nerves adds to the sometimes extreme difficulties of surgical tumour removal. Counselling patients as well as pre- and intraoperative decision making in petroclival meningiomas is even more difficult because upon clinical and radiological tumour detection, despite sometimes surprisingly large tumours, clinical symptoms are often only mild. Summarising the complicated development of petroclival meningioma surgery over the last 60 years, this paper represents the conceptual thinking of the author in regard to the treatment of petroclival meningiomas which has evolved over more than two decades, based on a special interest in these treacherous tumours, and accumulated experiences in the treatment of over 150 patients. Surgical concepts and the operative decision-making process are demonstrated in four illustrative cases. METHODS: Over a period of slightly over 20 years, between January 1988 and December 2008, 161 patients with petroclival meningiomas were managed clinically by the author or under his direct surveillance in four academic neurosurgical institutions. The observation period ranged from 4 to 242 months. Thirteen patients were lost to follow-up so, all together, complete data were available for 148 patients. In 119 patients (80%), the tumour was large. Giant tumours accounted for 7% and 11 patients, medium-sized tumours were found in 12 patients (8%) and small tumours in only six patients (4%). Sixty-two percent of the patients had invasion of Meckel's cave or some part of the cavernous sinus, mainly the posterior region to different degrees. All giant tumours and one third of the large tumours extended into more than one cranial fossa. RESULTS: The treatment modalities in the 148 patients were as follows: microsurgery alone was performed in 71 patients (48%), microsurgery and adjuvant radiosurgery in 22 patients (15%) so in 93 patients (63%), altogether, microsurgery was the primary treatment. Twenty-nine patients (20%) underwent radiosurgery as their only treatment, and two patients (1%), during the very early phase of the study period, received radiotherapy. Twenty-four patients (16%) were only observed without any additional therapy. Gross total resection was achieved in 34 patients (37%), and subtotal resection, defined as removal of more than 90% of the tumour volume, was performed in another 36 patients (39%). Radical tumour removal was possible in 76% of the patients. There was no procedure-related death within 3 months post-surgery; the early post-op surgical complication rate was 31% with new neurological deficits or worsening of pre-existing deficits. During the observation period, almost all patients recovered significantly bringing the percentage of permanent neurological deficits, again mainly cranial nerve deficits, down to 22%. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the experiences of the author, the following treatment principles in petroclival meningiomas are proposed: small tumours in asymptomatic patients should be observed. If tumour growth is detected on serial magnetic resonance imaging or treatment is desired by the patient, surgery should be the first choice. Radiosurgery in growing small tumours should be reserved to patients with advanced age or significant co-morbidities. In medium-sized tumours and symptomatic patients, radical surgery should be attempted, if possible by judicious intraoperative judgement. In large and giant petroclival meningiomas, tumour resection as radical as possible judged intraoperatively with decompression of neural structures should be performed, followed by observation and, in the case of growing tumour remnants, radiosurgery. Thus, by a combined application of advanced microsurgical techniques, thoughtful, intraoperative decision making with limited surgical aggressively and, in selected patients, with small tumours or small tumour remnants simple observation or alternative or adjunct radiosurgery, excellent results as measured by tumour control and preservation of quality of life can be achieved.

An Interview with Dr. John L. Cameron, the Hall of Famer of Pancreatic Cancer.

The Society of Surgical Alimentary Tract (SSAT) Resident Education Committee aim is to facilitate resident participation in the annual meeting and foster the education of the next generation of gastrointestinal. The SSAT "Residents Corner" was developed as a video-blog highlighting areas of interest for surgical trainees looking to focus on a career in gastrointestinal surgery. The topics covered are to make surgical education more accessible, one way is to highlight leaders in the field who discuss their journey. A 10-min video of a surgical mentor is recorded and archived on the SSAT site under a video series called "Mentor of the Month." A synopsis of a video published online February 2018 featuring Dr. John Cameron interviewed by one of his trainee, Dr. Vanita Ahuja. Dr. Cameron shares his thoughts on his accomplishments, challenges, and advice for young surgeons and the future of pancreatic surgery. The interview offers an insight into the mind of one of the greatest leaders of surgery of our time.

The History of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery and the ERAS Society.

This short historical overview explains the development of enhanced recovery from a small group of surgeons in European academic centers to the establishment of ERAS®Society, a not-for-profit multiprofessional multidisciplinary medical-academic society, reaching all major continents and involving a wide range of surgical and anesthesia disciplines.

The Unforgettable Neurosurgical Operations of Musicians in the Last Century.

BACKGROUND: There has been no study of craniotomies of famous musicians throughout history. This subject was investigated. METHODS: The key search words were "neurosurgery and music" and the names of composers. We used digital catalogs such as PubMed as well as university libraries. RESULTS: We found 4 musicians from the twentieth century with different neurosurgical diseases: Maurice Ravel, George Gershwin, Clara Haskil, and Pat Martino. CONCLUSIONS: Neurosurgical operations affected the musical careers and lives of mentioned musicians and two of them died. Neurosurgeons can understand the effect of limited diagnostic tools such as magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography at the time on the poor outcome of 2 musicians.