Edward D. Churchill (1895-1972): An Innovative Surgeon, His Work, and His Contribution to Parathyroid Surgery.

Edward Delos Churchill, one of the most notorious American surgeons of the 20th century, influenced countless surgeons and set medical practices that were used for decades. His scope of interests included surgery of the lungs, heart, thyroid, parathyroid glands, and military surgery among others. Churchill was one of the first to expand the field of the newly found parathyroid bodies by performing several experimental excisions of the glands and publishing numerous guidelines based on his innovative work. Additionally, he aspired to address many of the literature gaps that led him to conclusions that would benefit both the surgeons and patients throughout the country. Most importantly, his deep interest in endocrinology and his aggregate approach of medicine led him to discoveries that paved the way to the modern endocrine surgery practices.

Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion combined with thyroid gland surgery, a tailored case and literature review.

BACKGROUND: Nowadays, Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF) is considered a routine procedure. However, unexpected difficulties do occasionally arise, especially when anterior neck pathologies or anatomical variations are encountered. In such cases, proactive thinking will allow surgeons to tailor appropriately their approach and eliminate surgical risks. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 50-year-old male patient suffering from left upper limb radiculopathy that underwent a C7-T1 ACDF combined with a hemithyroidectomy. Excision of the right thyroid lobe was offered to the patient because of a goiter found during the preoperative work-up. Furthermore, the hemithyroidectomy provided a wide surgical field so the ACDF performed without excreting excessive traction to the adjacent neck structures. CONCLUSIONS: The patient had an uncomplicated post-operative. To our knowledge this is the first report of a planned hemithyroidectomy being carried out as the first step towards an ACDF procedure.

Concept of the aortic aneurysm repair-related surgical stress: a review of the literature.

OBJECTIVE: Abdominal aorta aneurysm (AAA) is a serious threat for human life. AAA repair is a high-risk procedure which results in a severe surgical stress response. We aim to give a conceptual description of the underlying pathophysiology of stress after surgical repair of AAA. METHODS: The MEDLINE/PubMed database was searched for publications with the medical subject heading "surgical stress" and keywords "abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA)", or "cytokines" or "hormones" or "open repair (OR)" or "endovascular repair (EVAR)". We restricted our search to English till 2012 and only in cases of abdominal and thoracoabdominal aneurysms (TAAA). RESULTS: We identified 93 articles that were available in English as abstracts or/and full-text articles that were deemed appropriate for our review. CONCLUSIONS: Literature highlights no statistical significance for early acute TNF-α production in EVAR and no TNF-α production in OR. IL-6 and IL-8 levels are higher after OR especially when compared with those of EVAR. IL-10 peak was observed during ischemic phase in aneurysm surgical repair. Cortisol and epinephrine levels are higher in OR patients in comparison to EVAR patients. Finally, the incidence of systemic inflammatory response syndrome was significantly higher in OR than EVAR patients.

The Belsey Mark IV: an operation with an enduring role in the management of complicated hiatal hernia.

BACKGROUND: The Belsey Mark IV operation has been used for the management of hiatal hernia for over 40 years, but with the introduction of laparoscopic techniques its role has become questionable. To determine the current role of this procedure we present a contemporary series of patients. METHODS: We reviewed fifteen consecutive patients, mean age of 63 years, who underwent a Belsey Mark IV fundoplication for gastroesophageal reflux in the presence of a hiatal hernia in our Department from January 2005 to March 2011. Indications for the thoracic approach included paraesophageal hernias, recurrent hiatal hernias and previous upper abdominal surgery. RESULTS: There was no operative mortality. Immediate postoperative morbidity included 1 case of bleeding, 1 case of pneumonia and 1 case of atrial fibrillation. The mean length of stay was 5.9 days. After a mean follow-up time of 49 months, all patients reported total or partial alleviation of their symptoms. No hernia recurrence was detected during barium swallow examination. CONCLUSIONS: The Belsey approach is a procedure that can be useful as an alternative in selected cases when there are co-morbidities complicating the transabdominal (laparoscopic) approach.

Esophageal gastrointestinal stromal tumor: diagnostic complexity and management pitfalls.

Introduction. Gastrointestinal stromal tumors of the esophagus are rare. Case Presentation. This is a case of a 50-year-old male patient who was referred to our department complaining of atypical chest pain. A chest computed tomographic scan and endoscopic ultrasound revealed a submucosal esophageal tumor measuring 5 cm in its largest diameter. Suspecting a leiomyoma, we performed enucleation via right thoracotomy. The pathology report yielded a diagnosis of an esophageal gastrointestinal stromal tumor. The patient has shown no evidence of recurrence one year postoperatively. Conclusions. This report illustrates the complexity and dilemmas inherent in diagnosing and treating esophageal GISTs.

Neglected papillary thyroid carcinoma seven years after initial diagnosis.

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common epithelial thyroid tumor, accounting for more than 80% of all thyroid tumors. Recent advances in ultrasonographic screening and US-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) have facilitated the early detection and diagnosis of papillary thyroid carcinomas. In exceptionally rare cases, papillary thyroid tumors may assume enormous dimensions due to recurrent disease or the patient's negligence of the problem. We report an extremely rare case of a 72-year-old woman presented with a neglected giant exophytic papillary thyroid carcinoma with hemorrhagic ulcers. Computed tomography showed a mass measured 17 × 12 cm that caused a displacement of the trachea to the right side and reached the mediastinum. After bleeding management, patient was discharged. The patient was fully aware of her situation, but she denied any further therapeutic management.

Unique presentation of a giant mediastinal tumor as kyphosis: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Although posture distortion is a common problem in elderly patients, spinal deformity caused by a thymoma has not been previously reported. Thymomas are slowly growing tumors that predominantly cause respiratory symptoms. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of an 83-year-old woman who was admitted with a giant mediastinal mass that had caused progressive spinal distortion and weight loss to our department. The clinical and laboratory investigations that followed revealed one of the largest thymomas ever reported in the medical literature, presenting as a mass lesion placed at the left hemithorax. She underwent complete surgical excision of the tumor via a median sternotomy. Two years after the operation, she showed significant improvement in her posture, no pulmonary discomfort, and a gain of 20 kg; she remains disease free based on radiographic investigations. CONCLUSIONS: In this case, a chronic asymmetric load on the spine resulted in an abnormal vertebral curvature deformity that presented as kyphosis.

Giant liposarcoma of the back with 4 types of histopathology: a case report.

The incidence of soft tissue tumours, both malignant and benign, is very common. However, the coexistence of 4 types of histopathology is rare and the aim of this article is to present one treated in our Department. An 87-year-old Greek man was treated in our Department for a huge tumour on his back, under local anaesthesia. The pathology report of the specimen referred 4 types of neoplasia. This case represents this incidence in a giant liposarcoma of the back.