Transoral endoscopic parathyroidectomy vestibular approach (TOEPVA) for primary hyperparathyroidism: Turkey's experience.

AIM: Parathyroid surgery has witnessed a significant evolution with the introduction of more efficacious preoperative localization imaging techniques and the use of rapid intraoperative parathormone assays. Parathyroid surgery can now be performed with the minimum of invasion. Through the adaptation of the transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy vestibular approach (TOETVA), the technique has now been adopted for parathyroid surgery, known as the transoral endoscopic parathyroidectomy vestibular approach (TOEPVA). We present here the initial experiences of 11 centers carrying out TOEPVA surgery in Turkey. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Participating in the study were 11 centers, all of which were tertiary care institutions carrying out endocrine surgery. A retrospective review was made of 35 primary hyperparathyroidism patients who underwent the TOEPVA procedure between July 2017 and January 2020. RESULTS: Of the total 35 patients, 32 patients underwent the TOEPVA procedure successfully. All patients but one were female, and the mean age was 47.2 (20-73) years. According to localization studies, 18 of the lesions were lower left, 12 were lower right, 3 were upper right and 2 were upper left. The mean operative time was 116 (30-225) min, and three cases were converted to an open procedure. Simultaneous thyroidectomy was performed in seven cases. The average PTH level dropped to normal within 20 min. after the resection in all cases. The complication rate was 19% (ecchymosis, subcutaneous emphysema, nasal bleeding, surgical site infection and seroma). There were neither recurrent nerve palsies, nor mental nerve root or branch injuries. The average hospital stay was 1 day. No persistence was documented on follow up. CONCLUSION: TOEPVA is a "hidden scar" parathyroidectomy procedure that can be safely performed on parathyroid adenomas, in cases that have scar-related concerns. Having its own procedure-related complications, the procedure provides satisfactory objective results, particularly in centers experienced in endoscopic and endocrine surgery.

A comparison of the efficacy of three different peak airway pressures on intraoperative bleeding point detection in patients undergoing thyroidectomy: a randomized, controlled, clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Various techniques are used to detect intraoperative bleeding points in thyroid surgery. We aimed to assess the effect of increasing peak airway pressure to 30, 40 and 50 cm H2O manually in detecting intraoperative bleeding points. METHODS: One hundred and 34 patients scheduled for total thyroidectomy were included to this prospective randomised controlled clinical study. We randomly assigned patients to increase peak airway pressure to 30, 40 and 50 cm H2O manually intraoperatively just before surgical closure during hemostasis control. The primary endpoint was the rate of bleeding points detected by the surgeon during peak airway pressure increase. RESULTS: The rate of detection of the bleeding points was higher in 50 cm H2O Group than the other two groups (15.9 vs 25.5 vs 40%, P = 0.030), after pressure administration, the HR, SpO2, and P peak were similar between groups (P = 0.125, 0.196, 0.187, respectively). The median duration of the bleeding point detection after the pressure application was 21.82 s in 30 cm H2O, 25 s in 40 cm H2O, and 22.50 s in 50 cm H2O groups. Postoperative subcutaneous hematomas or hemorrhages requiring surgery were not seen in any patient. CONCLUSIONS: Manually increasing peak airway pressure to 50 cm H2O during at least 22.50 s may be used as an alternative way to detect intraoperative bleeding points in thyroid surgery. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT03547648. Registered 6 June2018.

Experience of an endocrine surgeon in laparoscopic transperitoneal adrenalectomy.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LA) is currently recognized as the gold standard for the treatment of most adrenal lesions, with a high safety and feasibility profile. This study aimed to present the extensive experience of a specialized endocrine surgeon in LA in a relatively large series of patients. METHODS: A total of 116 LAs performed from June 2009 to 2018 were evaluated in terms of adrenal pathologies, perioperative management, complications, conversions, tumor size, operative time, and learning curve. The learning curve was assessed using the cumulative sum (CUSUMOT) technique. RESULTS: Of 116 LAs, 107 (92.2%) were completed successfully, 77 (72%) of which were for Cushing's syndrome (n = 43, 55.8%), pheochromocytoma (n = 26, 33.8%), and Conn's syndrome (n = 8, 10.4%). Conversion was required in 9 cases (7.8%), the most common cause being limited space complicating dissection (n = 3). The mean operative time for successful LAs (unilateral 85, bilateral 22) was 74.7 min (range 40-210 min) and the mean hospital stay was 1.7 days (range 1-5 days). Gender, tumor size and body mass index were found to have no significant relationship with the operative time (p > 0.05). Postoperative normalization in hormone profiles was obtained in all patients but one. Aside from grade-I port-site infections in four patients (3.7%), no postoperative major complications and 30-day mortality were observed. On the CUSUMOT graph, the learning period covered the first 34 operations. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic adrenalectomy is safe and advantageous, but requires a dedicated team involving experienced endocrine surgeons who have achieved competency after completion of the learning curve.

The Assessment of Risk Factors for Difficult Intubation in Thyroid Patients.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess possible risk factors related to difficult intubation in patients undergoing thyroid surgery. METHODS: We prospectively collected data of 200 patients scheduled for thyroid surgery. Clinical risk factors were defined as: Mallampati score, interincisor gap, thyromental distance, sternomental distance, range of neck motion, body mass index, neck circumference, goiter, the presence of radiological findings suggesting compression and thyroid weight. All evaluations were performed with Macintosh assessed for Cormack and Lehane (CL) classification and modified intubation difficulty scale (MIDS). RESULTS: It was observed that the proportion of patients with a thyroid weight ≥40 g, goiter, a Macintosh CL score = 3-4 and the mean neck circumference were significantly higher in the group with a MIDS score >5 (p = 0.018, p = 0.011, p < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: The presence of a palpable goiter, thyroid weight ≥40 g and thyromental distance <6.5 cm were risk factors associated with difficult intubation in the multivariate regression model.

Effect of energy-based devices on voice quality after total thyroidectomy.

Voice alteration is an important complication of thyroid surgery and is closely related to patients' quality of life. There are no studies analyzing effect of energy-based devices (EBD) on voice quality (VQ). Aim of this prospective study is to evaluate impact of sutureless total thyroidectomy performed with EBDs on objective voice parameters of patients without recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) and/or external branch of superior laryngeal nerve (EBSLN) injury. Sixty patients underwent total thyroidectomy with meticulous dissection of EBSLN. Patients were assigned to Group L (Ligasure™), Group H (Harmonic), or Group C (Conventional) through random ballot. For analysis of alteration in VQ, digital videolaryngostroboscopy (VLS), voice handicap index (VHI), multidimensional voice program (MDVP), and electroglottography (EGG) were used. VLS was performed by 70°-angled indirect laryngoscopy and evaluation was standardized by VLS scale and laryngeal function scoring. This study is registered on clinicaltrials.gov with number NCT01865006. Forty eight patients were female. There was no difference on demographic data. On post-operative laryngoscopic examination, none of the patients had vocal fold palsy. When mean VHI scores at post-operative 1st week and 2nd month were compared to pre-operative values for each groups, groups L and H demonstrated a significant increase in VHI in the early post-operative evaluation, while there was no significant increase for group C. No significant increase was seen in late post-operative period compared to pre-operative period for any groups. In the early post-operative period, VQ is better with the conventional technique than EBDs; however, in late post-operative period, VQ is detected better in EBDs (especially in Group L) than the conventional technique, but no statistical difference was observed.

Short-stay Sutureless Thyroidectomy is Safe and Effective: Cerrahpasa Experience.

Hospitalizing patients up to 72 hours after thyroidectomy is a classical approach. However, the length of hospitalization has decreased following surgical procedures with new technological devices. Seven hundred one consecutive patients who underwent sutureless total thyroidectomy (STT) between October 2011 and 2013 were included in this study. Six hundred seventy-two (95.9%) were discharged before 24 hours following surgery (short-stay = SS), and 29 were discharged later (delayed-discharge = DD). This study aims to assess short-stay STT with early postoperative complications and readmission to hospital. One hundred forty-three SS patients were male and 529 were female. Mean age was 48 ± 13 years, BMI was 28.7 ± 8.3 kg/m2. Mean hospital stay for SS was 18.13 ± 1.97 (17-23) hours. Histopathology was benign in 443 (65.92%) and malignant in 229 (34.08%) in the SS group. In three (0.4%) of the SS group drainage was required because of hematoma, and in seven (1%) wound infection was observed. One hundred seven (7.9%) [permanent = 7 (0.52%)] of 1344 recurrent laryngeal nerves (RLNs) in SS were seen paralyzed in postoperative vocal cord examination. Hypocalcemia (all transient) was observed in 52 (7.74%) of the SS group. Eight of those 52 readmitted to hospital with symptomatic hypocalcemia and were treated as outpatients. There was no mortality. Of the DD group, two stayed in the intensive care unit, two had dysphonia, two had hematoma with anti-coagulant use, one had fever, four did not tolerate diet, five refused discharge, and 13 had symptomatic hypocalcemia. Sutureless total thyroidectomy can be performed safely and effectively as short-stay surgery.

Evidence-based Analysis on The Clinical Impact of Intraoperative Neuromonitoring in Thyroid Surgery: State of the Art and Future Perspectives.

Laryngeal nerve injuries are one the most critical complications during thyroid and parathyroid surgery. Iatrogenic damages to the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) are relevant in terms of clinical implications, economic costs, and for malpractice litigation. In order to minimize potential neural damages, a standardized surgical technique is mandatory. Intraoperatory neuromonitoring (IONM) of the RLN is an important adjunct to the traditional approach and is a reliable tool for neural mapping and in dissection and prognostication of postoperative neural function 4. Because of this, most of the iatrogenic damages are not related to direct transection, but they are visually undetectable. Notwithstanding the increasing use of IONM at this stage, there is still the need for prospective, randomized, well-powered, and well-designed trials in order to further validate (via evidence-based data) the role of IONM in thyroid surgery. The aim of this review is to provide a critical analysis of the scientific evidences on the clinical impact of IONM in thyroid surgery showing the unsolved problems and the future challenges.

Synchronous occurrence of medullary and papillary thyroid cancer and survival rates.

PURPOSE: Concurrence of medullary and papillary thyroid carcinoma (MTC and PTC) represents less than 1% of all thyroid malignancies. We aimed to reveal the demographic and clinical characteristics of this rare pathology and to evaluate the effect of the same or contralateral lobular localization of these two malignancies in clinical and laboratory features. Evaluation of progression-free survival (PFS) in current pathology is one of the important features of our study. METHODS: All patients diagnosed with simultaneous MTC and PTC after thyroidectomy were evaluated retrospectively. Data on the following variables were recorded: age, gender, tumor localization (ipsilateral lobe located MTC and PTC-Group I, contralateral lobe located MTC and PTC-Group II), tumor size, cervical lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, tumor stage, postoperative basal calcitonin, carcinoembryonic antigen, thyroglobulin (Tg), and anti-Tg values. In all our cases, since MTC progressed before PTC, progression was accepted as serum calcitonin values exceeded 150 pg/mL. RESULTS: Groups were formed as follows: Group I, four cases where MTC and PTC were localized in different foci in the same lobe; Group II, nine cases where they were localized in different lobes. There was only one case in which two tumors were located in the same focus. The case with dual differentiation was included in Group I (35. 7%). When the PFS of the two groups were compared, no statistically significant difference was found ( P = 0.87). CONCLUSIONS: As a result of this analysis, the location of the simultaneously detected PTC in the same or different lobes with the MTC does not make a significant difference in clinical and laboratory features.

Incidental Papillary Microcarcinoma and Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma in Multinodular Goiter.

Introduction: This study aimed to examine the incidence of incidental papillary microcarcinoma (PMC) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) in patients with benign multinodular goiter (MNG) and to compare their relationship with some prognostic factors from a new perspective. Methods: Bilateral total thyroidectomy (BTT) was used to evaluate the data of 716 patients who underwent a surgery for MNG. The prognostic data for these tumors and the relationship between patients with bilateral and multifocal tumors were evaluated using statistical tests. Results: Papillary carcinomas were detected in 201 patients, PMC in 134 of them, and PTCs in 67. Bilaterality was more common in patients with PTCs than in those with PMC. The incidence of bilaterality in male patients with PTC was statistically more common. The presence of intra-tumoral lymphocytes was higher in multifocal PTC cases than in unifocal PTC cases. Conclusion: The results revealed that the number of PMC s was high in incidental tumors, and patients with PTC with male sex, bilaterality, multifocality, and tumor capsule invasion were associated with poor prognosis.

Extended pancreaticoduodenectomy for a huge cystic-cavernous lymphangioma: a case report.

CONTEXT: Cystic-cavernous lymphangioma is a rare cystic tumor especially for adults and pancreas. CASE REPORT: We reported a case of a 33-year-old woman who presented with a visible and palpable abdominal mass found to be a huge lymphangioma of the pancreas. An abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a multiloculated, lobulated T1 hypo/hyper, T2 hyperintense cystic mass extending from right subhepatic space to the pelvis measuring 155x167x100 mm. A pancreaticoduodenectomy was performed encompassing the distal stomach and a segment of the transverse colon, because of their close, inseparable relationship to the mass. The cystic mass was histopathologically diagnosed as partly cavernous and partly cystic lymphangioma. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge this is the first case of pancreatic lymphangioma requiring additional organ resection besides a standard pancreaticoduodenectomy. To reduce recurrences, we recommend a complete resection for this pathology, even though its benign nature.

Efficacy of PET-CT in the prediction of metastatic adrenal masses that are detected on follow-up of the patients with prior nonadrenal malignancy: A nationwide multicenter case-control study.

Metastasis is the second most common type of adrenal gland mass. In patients undergoing follow-up for nonadrenal malignancy, adrenalectomy is performed when metastasis to adrenal gland is suspected on the basis of positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) imaging. This study investigated the efficacy of PET-CT in the discrimination of metastatic lesions from nonmetastatic lesions in the adrenal glands. In this multicentric study, data was collected from enrolled centers. Forty-one patients who underwent surgery for suspected adrenal metastases were evaluated retrospectively. The following data types were collected: demographic, primary tumor, maximum standardized uptake value of adrenal mass (a-SUVx) and detectability in computed tomography and/or magnetic resonance imaging, and specimen size and histopathology. Six patients were excluded due to unavailability of PET-CT reports and 4 for being primary adrenal malignancy. The rest were divided into 2 groups (metastatic: n = 17, 55% and nonmetastatic: n = 14, 45%) according to histopathology reports. There was no statistical difference between the analyzed values, except the a-SUVx (P < .05). The a-SUVx cutoff value was defined as 5.50 by receiver operating characteristic curves and compared with literature. There was no statistical difference when each group was divided as low and high (P > .05). It was found that PET-CT was able to discriminate metastatic lesions from primary benign lesions (P = .022). PET-CT can discriminate primary benign lesions and metastatic lesions by cutoff 5.5 value for a-SUVx.

The effects of different degrees of head-of-bed elevation on the respiratory pattern and drainage following thyroidectomy: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The patient's position is important for ensuring patient comfort and preventing complications after thyroidectomy. OBJECTIVES: This study was carried out to determine the effects of different degrees of head-of-bed elevation (HOBE) on the respiratory pattern and drainage following thyroidectomy and to provide suggestions for evidence-based clinical practice. METHODS: The sample of this prospective, parallel arm, randomized controlled trial included 114 patients undergoing thyroidectomy in a university hospital in Turkey. The patients were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to supine 0° (baseline), 30° and 45° HOBE groups. Respiratory pattern including respiratory rate (RR), peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) and dyspnea, and drainage including amount of drainage and hematoma formation were evaluated at the 1rd, 2rd, 3rd and 4th hours following thyroidectomy. RESULTS: The majority of the patients (83.3%) were female and 84.2% had undergone total thyroidectomy. The mean RR (18.47, 95% CI=17.85-19.09) of the patients in the supine 30° HOBE group at the 1rd hour was significantly higher than that of the patients in the supine 0° group (17.32, 95% CI=16.88-17.76; p<0.05). There was no significant difference between the SpO2 values of the patients in the groups (p>0.05). The amount of drainage was significantly higher in the supine 0° group at the 2nd hour than that of the patients in the supine 45° HOBE group (5.92±5.18; 3.34±5.56 respectively; p<0.05). None of the patients in the groups had hematoma formation. While no patient in the supine 30° HOBE group had dyspnea, dyspnea occurred in 9 patients in the supine 0° group and in 3 patients in the supine 45° HOBE group. CONCLUSION: This study showed that different HOBE positions resulted in clinically insignificant changes on the RR and amount of drainage during the first 4 hours following thyroidectomy but did not affect SpO2 value.

Performance of F-18 Fluorocholine PET/CT for Detection of Hyperfunctioning Parathyroid Tissue in Patients with Elevated Parathyroid Hormone Levels and Negative or Discrepant Results in conventional Imaging.

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to assess the diagnostic performance of F-18 fluorocholine (FCH) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in detecting hyperfunctioning parathyroid tissue (HPT) in patients with elevated parathyroid hormone levels with negative or inconclusive conventional imaging results and to compare the findings with those obtained using technetium-99m sestamibi (MIBI) scintigraphy and neck ultrasonography (US). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Images of 105 patients with hyperparathyroidism who underwent FCH PET/CT, dual-phase MIBI parathyroid scintigraphy (median interval: 42 days), and neck US were retrospectively analyzed. The gold standard was histopathological findings for 81 patients who underwent parathyroidectomy and clinical follow-up findings in the remaining 24 patients. Sensitivities, positive predictive values (PPVs), and accuracies were calculated for all imaging modalities. RESULTS: Among the 81 patients who underwent parathyroidectomy, either parathyroid adenoma (n = 64), hyperplasia (n = 9), neoplasia (n = 4), or both parathyroid adenoma and hyperplasia (n = 1) were detected, except 3 patients who did not show HPT. Of the 24 (23%) patients who were followed-up without operation, 22 (92%) showed persistent hyperparathyroidism. FCH PET/CT showed significantly higher sensitivity than MIBI scintigraphy and US in detection of HPT (p < 0.01). Sensitivity, PPV, and accuracy of FCH PET/CT were 94.1% (95/101), 97.9% (95/97), and 92.4% (97/105), respectively. The corresponding values for MIBI scintigraphy and US were 45.1% (46/102), 97.9% (46/47), and 45.7% (48/105) and 44.1% (45/102), 93.8% (45/48), and 42.9% (45/105), respectively. Among the 35 patients showing negative MIBI scintigraphy and neck US findings, 30 (86%) showed positive results on FCH PET/CT. FCH PET/CT could demonstrate ectopic locations of HPT in 11 patients whereas MIBI and US showed positive findings in only 6 and 3 patients, respectively. CONCLUSION: FCH PET/CT is an effective imaging modality for detection of HPT with the highest sensitivity among the available imaging techniques. Therefore, FCH PET/CT can be recommended especially for patients who show negative or inconclusive results on conventional imaging.

Endocrine Surgery during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Recommendations from the Turkish Association of Endocrine Surgery.

The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was initially seen in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. World Health Organization classified COVID-19 as a pandemic after its rapid spread worldwide in a few months. With the pandemic, all elective surgeries and non-emergency procedures have been postponed in our country, as in others. Most of the endocrine operations can be postponed for a certain period. However, it must be kept in mind that these patients also need surgical treatment, and the delay time should not cause a negative effect on the surgical outcome or disease process. It has recently been suggested that elective surgical interventions can be described as medically necessary, time-sensitive (MeNTS) procedures. Some guidelines have been published on proper and safe surgery for both the healthcare providers and the patients after the immediate onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We should know that these guidelines and recommendations are not meant to constitute a position statement, the standard of care, or evidence-based/best practice. However, these are mostly the opinions of a selected group of surgeons. Generally, only life-threatening emergency operations should be performed in the stage where the epidemic exceeds the capacity of the hospitals (first stage), cancer and transplantation surgery should be initiated when the outbreak begins to be controlled (second stage), and surgery for elective cases should be performed in a controlled manner with suppression of the outbreak (third stage). In this rapidly developing pandemic period, the plans and recommendations to be made on this subject are based on expert opinions by considering factors, such as the course and biology of the disease, rather than being evidence-based. In the recent reports of many endocrine surgery associations and in various reviews, it has been stated that most of the cases can be postponed to the third stage of the epidemic. We aimed to evaluate the risk reduction strategies and recommendations that can help plan the surgery, prepare for surgery, protect both patients and healthcare workers during the operation and care for the patients in the postoperative period in endocrine surgery.

Prediction of Postoperative Vocal Fold Function After Intraoperative Recovery of Loss of Signal.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: This multicenter study aimed to 1) evaluate early postoperative vocal fold function in relation to intraoperative amplitude recovery, and 2) determine optimal absolute and relative thresholds of intraoperative amplitude recovery heralding normal early postoperative vocal fold function, both after segmental type 1 and after global type 2 loss of signal (LOS). STUDY DESIGN: Prospective outcome study. METHODS: This study, encompassing nine surgical centers from four countries, correlated intraoperative amplitude recovery with early postoperative vocal fold function using receiver operating characteristic analysis. RESULTS: Included in this study were 68 patients, 48 women and 20 men, who sustained transient recurrent laryngeal nerve injury during thyroid surgery under continuous intraoperative nerve monitoring. Early transient vocal fold palsy was seen in 18 (64%) of 28 patients with ipsilateral segmental LOS type 1, and in 10 (25%) of 40 patients with ipsilateral global LOS type 2. On receiver operating characteristic analysis, relative amplitude thresholds were superior to absolute amplitude thresholds in predicting vocal fold function after LOS type 2 (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.83 vs. 0.65; P = .01 vs. P = .15; Youden index 44% and 253 µV) and LOS type 1 (AUC: 0.96 vs. 0.97; P < .001 each; Youden index 49% and 455 µV). Amplitude recovery ≥50% of baseline after LOS always indicated intact vocal fold function. CONCLUSIONS: When the nerve amplitude recovers ≥50% of baseline after segmental LOS type 1 or global LOS type 2, it is appropriate to extend completion thyroidectomy to the other side during the same session. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2b Laryngoscope, 129:525-531, 2019.

Foreign body: A sewing needle migrating from the gastrointestinal tract to pancreas.

Of all ingested foreign bodies, 2.4% comprise of sewing needles. Through perforation of gastrointestinal tract, which occurs in 1% of cases, they can migrate into the liver and pancreas. Foreign bodies in pancreas should be considered in the differential diagnosis of chronic abdominal pain. Computed tomography scans provide valuable information for the localization of the lesion, which guide the surgeon during the operation. Secondary to foreign bodies that migrate to the pancreas, complications with high mortality such as pancreatitis, pseudoaneurysm, and pancreas abscess can be seen. Thus, for this patient group, diagnostic laparoscopy is recommended, considering its advantages of decreased postoperative pain, decreased wound infection, and faster recovery time. Here we present a case of a 23-year-old female patient, from whom an ingested needle that migrated from the back wall of the stomach to the pancreas was extracted by laparoscopic surgery.

Adrenal angiosarcoma.

Adrenal angiosarcoma is an uncommon neoplasm that derives from the vascular endothelium; due to its biological behavior, it should be distinguished from other adrenal tumors. We herein report a case of a 57-year-old woman with diagnosis of an adrenal tumor that was suspected to be malignant. The specimen was histopathologically proved to be an angiosarcoma. The patient was suffering from right upper quadrant pain; after laboratory and radiological workup, a non-functioning right adrenal mass, 14 cm in size, was recognized. A right subcostal incision was made, and adrenalectomy was performed successfully with tumor-free surgical margins. Two months after the operation, a positron emission tomography-computed tomography scan was ordered for follow-up. No tumor tissue or any other metastatic foci remained. The patient had been referred to our medical oncology department and underwent retroperitoneal radiotherapy. However, unfortunately, the patient died due to cardiac insufficiency during the follow-up period.

Missed thyroid gland after total thyroidectomy.

Missed gland is an extremely rare condition. It is a mediastinal thyroid mass found after total thyroidectomy. We report a case of missed gland. The patient underwent total thyroidectomy due to multinodular goiter and thyroid stimulating hormone levels did not increase after surgery. Pathological tests revealed a micropapillary carcinoma. Thyroid ultrasonography and scintigraphy scan revealed mediastinal thyroid mass. The patient underwent redo surgery without sternotomy and there was no morbidity after the second surgical procedure. Most missed thyroid gland cases are due to incomplete removal of plunging thyroid goiter during total thyroidectomy. They also can be attributed to a concomitant, unrecognized mediastinal goiter, which is not connected to the thyroid gland with vessels or a thin fibrous band. It should be noted that absence of signs like mediastinal mass or tracheal deviation in preoperative chest X-ray does not exclude substernal goiter. The presence of a missed thyroid gland should be kept in mind when postoperative thyroid stimulating hormone levels remain unchanged.

Passage of "colonic cast" after colorectal surgery: report of four cases and review of the literature.

Anal passage of a full-thickness infarcted colonic segment (so-called "cast") not accompanied by any features of acute peritonitis is a very rare occurrence and may be the main advertising manifestation of acute colonic ischemia. Most of the reported cases of acute colonic ischemia are secondary to abdominal aortic aneurysms and ensuing inferior mesenteric artery thrombosis or to the repair of these aneurysms. The preceding events causing ischemia in other cases are Hartmann reversal, rectal resection and colonic J-pouch construction, and acute pancreatitis. In this article we present our experience on four cases of colonic cast passage, all of which developed subsequent to colorectal resection. Three of these casts are supposed to be mucosal and one is transmural. Generally, surgery is the rule and consists of the resection of the concerned ischemic segment. Every clinician should be aware of this form of presentation of bowel ischemia, not only following aneurysm surgery but also in the postoperative course of colorectal surgery.

Silk suture reaction in thyroid surgery.

Silk suture reaction (i.e., a benign granulomatous inflammatory foreign body reaction) is a rare complication of thyroid surgery. Here, two cases of post-thyroidectomy suture reaction are presented. Both of the patients were female, one is 48 and the other is 34 years old. The patients were presented with neck swelling and leakage of serous fluid from the Kocher's incision. Both patients had normal free T4, free T3, and TSH values. The 48-year-old female patient had a right subtotal and left near-total thyroidectomy 6 years ago and the other had bilateral total thyroidectomy 6 years ago. In the physical examination a mobile, painless, red, swelling was palpated in front of neck. In the ultrasound of both patients, a heterogeneous nodule with hypoechoic rim was seen, however, in scintigraphy no radiopharmaceutical involvement was observed in thyroid region. Due to suspicion of thyroid malignancy, a fine needle aspiration biopsy was performed and foreign body reaction was revealed cytologically. A suture reaction can vary from an erythematous swelling to chronic granulomatous reaction. The time interval between the operation and formation of suture reaction was 6 years in both of the cases thus these patients were considered as chronic patients. Foreign body reaction diagnosis was confirmed with fine needle aspiration biopsy. It is important to diagnose these chronic inflammation cases since these cases can mimic recurrence in thyroid malignancies. A post-thyroidectomy suture reaction is diagnosed cytologically with fine needle aspiration biopsy and by surgical removal of suture, this chronic inflammatory reaction can be cured.