Thyroid Nodule Rupture Following Radiofrequency Ablation for Benign Thyroid Nodules.

Importance: Nodule rupture is a rare but serious complication of thyroid radiofrequency ablation (RFA). With growing adoption of thyroid RFA across the US, an understanding of thyroid nodule rupture (TNR) is crucial for recognition, management, and, ultimately, prevention. Objective: To determine procedural and patient factors that may contribute to TNR and describe experiences in managing TNR while synthesizing existing literature. Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective case series examined all RFA procedures for benign thyroid nodules performed by 2 attending physicians at a single academic referral center between December 2019 and January 2024. A total of 298 consecutive patients underwent RFA for benign thyroid nodules. Criteria for offering RFA included nodules with 2 benign fine-needle aspirations, no suspicious ultrasonography features, a greatest dimension of 2 cm or greater, compressive or cosmetic concerns, and accessibility to a straight needle. Exposures: All RFAs were performed using ultrasonography guidance using the moving-shot technique and a 7-mm or 10-mm active tip. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was TNR, and measures were procedure, nodule, and patient characteristics that may have contributed to its pathogenesis. Secondary outcomes were nodule volume reduction, thyroid function, and management and sequelae of TNR. The hypothesis on the pathogenesis of TNR was formed before data collection. Results: Six of 298 patients (2%; 4 women [67%]) with a mean age of 48.5 years (range, 34-65 years) experienced TNR for a mean of 36 days postprocedure (range, 19-54 days). The mean (SD) initial nodule volume among patients with TNR was 31.45 (16.52) mL, and 3 of 6 patients (50%) underwent prior lobectomy. All ruptures were anterior. All patients were treated conservatively, and none required surgery. Five patients recovered completely; the sixth and most recent patient was healing as of last follow-up. Conclusions and Relevance: There are limited data on the etiology and optimal management of TNR. These 6 cases of anterior rupture suggest that a potential contributor to TNR is thermal and mechanical trauma exerted at the fulcrum point during the moving-shot technique. The use of a smaller active tip (eg, 7 mm) and cessation of energy delivery before this point may help avoid TNR. More robust reporting of this complication may clarify risk factors for and enhance prevention of TNR.

Cortical change after a 2-week novel robotic rehabilitation program in children with prior hemispherectomy: pilot imaging study.

INTRODUCTION: Partial preservation of sensory and motor functions in the contralateral extremities after hemispherectomy is likely secondary to cortical reorganization of the remaining hemisphere and can be improved by rehabilitation. This study aims to investigate behavioral and structural cerebral cortical changes that may occur after a 2-week novel robotic rehabilitation program in children with prior anatomic hemispherectomy. METHODS: Five patients with prior anatomic hemispherectomy (average age 10.8 years; all female) participated in a 2-week novel robotic rehabilitation program. Pre- and post-treatment (2 time points) high-resolution structural 3D FSPGR (fast spoiled gradient echo) magnetic resonance images were analyzed to measure cortical thickness and gray matter volume using a locally designed image processing pipeline. RESULTS: Four of the five patients showed improvement in the Fugl-Meyer score (average increase 2.5 + 2.1 SD. Individual analyses identified small increases in gray matter volume near the hand knob area of the primary cortex in three of the five patients. Group analyses identified an increase in cortical thickness near the hand knob area of the primary motor cortex, in addition to other sensorimotor regions. CONCLUSION: This small pilot study demonstrates that potentially rehabilitation-associated cortical changes can be identified with MRI in hemispherectomy patients.

Nonfunctioning Pituitary Lesions.

Nonfunctioning pituitary lesions represent a subset of pituitary adenomas that do not manifest with clinical features of hormone hypersecretion. Because of their indolent nature, their diagnosis is elusive, often resulting in presentation after the tumors have grown large enough to cause compressive symptoms. Although they are clinically silent, the various subtypes correspond to the predominant cell line of origin and therefore are biochemically distinct from one another. This article reviews the biochemical, clinical, and histopathologic features of each of these subtypes. A rubric is provided for diagnostic work-up of these lesions and the management options available to the treating clinician.

Drug-Induced Sleep Endoscopy and Surgical Outcomes: A Multicenter Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between findings of blinded reviews of preoperative drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) examinations using the VOTE Classification and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) surgical outcomes in a large multicenter, international cohort. METHODS: Retrospective, multi-center cohort study of adults without tonsillar hypertrophy who underwent pharyngeal surgery for OSA. The study included only participants without enlarged tonsils. Four independent reviewers performed blinded review of preoperative DISE videos using the VOTE Classification system and scoring of a primary structure contributing to airway obstruction. DISE findings were examined for an association with surgical outcomes with univariate analyses and multiple regression. RESULTS: Two hundred seventy-five study participants were included from 14 centers. Mean age was 51.4 ± 11.8 years, and body mass index was 30.1 ± 5.2 kg/m2 . There was moderate interrater reliability (kappa = 0.40-0.60) for DISE findings. Oropharyngeal lateral wall-related obstruction was associated with poorer surgical outcomes (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 0.51; 95% CI 0.27, 0.93). Complete tongue-related obstruction was associated with a lower odds of surgical response in moderate to severe OSA (AOR 0.52; 95% CI 0.28, 0.98), with findings that were similar but not statistically significant in other analyses. Surgical outcomes were not clearly associated with the degree and configuration of velum-related obstruction or the degree of epiglottis-related obstruction. Surgical response was associated with tonsil size and body mass index (inversely). CONCLUSION: DISE findings concerning the oropharyngeal lateral walls and tongue may be the most important findings of this evaluation technique. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2B Laryngoscope, 129:761-770, 2019.

The molecular mechanisms of increased radiosensitivity of HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC): an extensive review.

Head and neck carcinomas (HNCs) collectively are the sixth most common cancer with an annual incidence of about 400,000 cases in the US. The most well-established risk factors for HNCs are tobacco and alcohol abuse. With the increasing public awareness, the incidence of HNCs is decreasing. But there is an increasing incidence of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) has been observed during the last decade. This phenomena is associated with persistent infection with high-risk HPV. HPV associated OPSCC patients tend to be younger males of high socioeconomic status. The increasing incidence causes a significant loss to social resources, given that it's reported that HPV associated OPSCC represents about 60% of OPSCC cases. There is a growing amount of data supporting the hypothesis that HPV-associated OPSCC has a better survival rate due to a higher sensitivity to chemotherapy and radiotherapy as compared to HPV-unrelated OPSCC. Although the HPV positivity is associated with increased radio-sensitivity, the underlying mechanisms are not yet fully understood. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the effects of HPV infection and its carcinogenesis on the radiosensitivity of OPSCC, from the molecular to histologic level, providing a comprehensive insight of this special tumor entity.

How Does Smoking Change the Clinicopathological Characteristics of Human Papillomavirus-Positive Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma? One Medical Center Experience.

INTRODUCTION: Human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive and HPV-negative oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OPSCCs) are 2 distinct cancers, with HPV-positivity conferring a better prognosis. Smoking status is a complicating factor for both patient populations. There have been scattered literature that have reported on incomplete information regarding the profiles of their patient population. Details including age and sex distributions, TNM staging, histology grading, recurrence time and types, death rates, and the direct causes of deaths have been reported incompletely in the literature. Here, based on the experience at our university medical centers, we explored all the details of the important clinical profiles of HPV-negative OPSCC, HPV-positive OPSCC in smokers and nonsmokers. OBJECTIVE: In this article, we compare detailed clinical profiles of HPV-negative OPSCC and HPV-positive OPSCC in both smokers and nonsmokers. The clinical profiles we elucidated here include patients' age and sex distribution, general health conditions, histology grading, TNM staging, perineural invasion (PNI), and lymphovascular invasion (LVI), extracapsular extension (ECE), recurrence rate and types, death rate, and direct causes. Specifically, we divided HPV-positive OPSCC into smokers and nonsmokers and compared the different clinical profiles between these groups to give a better idea of the complicating role of smoking in the development of HPV-positive OPSCC. METHOD: All patients with OPSCC at a tertiary care publicly funded county hospital and a tertiary care university hospital from June 2009-July 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. The attending physicians were the same at both hospitals. The primary outcome measure was posttreatment 2-year follow-up status (locoregional recurrence, distant recurrence, death rate). Other measures included HPV status based on p16 staining, smoking history, age, sex, comorbidities, tumor size, nodal and distant metastasis information, LVI, PNI, ECE, and tumor histology grade. RESULTS: A total of 202 patients with OPSCC were identified. They were categorized into 3 groups: HPV-negative OPSCC group (HPV-), HPV-positive smoker group (HPV+SMK+), and HPV-positive nonsmoker group (HPV+SMK-). Patients of HPV- group are older (61.1 ± 11.6 years) than the other groups on average. The HPV- group has the highest percentage of women (22.7%). The HPV- patients with OPSCC have more comorbidities than the HPV+SMK+ group and the HPV+SMK- group, although there is no statistical difference. Grade 2 tumor is the most common histology grade for HPV- patients with OPSCC, whereas grade 3 is the most common grade for HPV+SMK+ and HPV+SMK- groups. Both PNI and LVI are positive at around 40% for all groups without any significant difference, but ECE is very common for HPV- OPSCC, at 86.7%, which is significantly higher than that of the HPV+SMK+ and HPV+SMK- groups. There was no difference of bilateral neck metastases noticed among different groups. For T staging and N staging, although HPV+SMK- and HPV+SMK+ patients have relatively lower T stages and higher N stages, there is no significant difference. HPV+SMK- group has highest TNM stages. All death rates and recurrence rates increase with time, but the death rate of HPV- group is about 4 times higher than that of the HPV+SMK+ group and 6 times higher than that of the HPV+SMK+ group. The major recurrence type of HPV- OPSCC and HPV+SMK+ is locoregional, and the major recurrence type of HPV+SMK+ is distant metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirmed that HPV+ OPSCC normally presents with more advanced stage, however, it has better prognosis. In comparison, HPV- OPSCC presents at an earlier stage, but the prognosis is worse. Based on their clinical profiles, we noted that HPV-positive OPSCC cells are more "mobile"; they metastasize sooner and further. However, HPV-negative OPSCC cells are more locally infiltrative, leading to more locoregional recurrence. The HPV-positive patients usually are younger and healthier at diagnosis. Although HPV-positive OPSCC tend to be histologically higher grades, there was no statistical difference noticed. Metastatic and recurrent patterns are very different between HPV-positive and HPV-negative patients, but the death rate of HPV-negative patients is way higher, and it is mainly due to locoregional recurrences, which is the major recurrence type for HPV-negative patients. Of our note, smoking is a complicating factor for HPV-positive OPSCC, and it makes the death rate, recurrence rate, histology grade, and TNM staging shift toward HPV-negative OPSCC. How smoking makes HPV-positive OPSCC behave more like OPSCC-negative OPSCC deserves more translational research for further elucidation.

Alcohol badly affects eye movements linked to steering, providing for automatic in-car detection of drink driving.

Driving is a classic example of visually guided behavior in which the eyes move before some other action. When approaching a bend in the road, a driver looks across to the inside of the curve before turning the steering wheel. Eye and steering movements are tightly linked, with the eyes leading, which allows the parts of the brain that move the eyes to assist the parts of the brain that control the hands on the wheel. We show here that this optimal relationship deteriorates with levels of breath alcohol well within the current UK legal limit for driving. The eyes move later, and coordination reduces. These changes lead to bad performance and can be detected by an automated in-car system, which warns the driver is no longer fit to drive.