Regional variations in the management of primary hyperparathyroidism in Sweden: population-based case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Substantial disparities in the utilization of parathyroidectomy for primary hyperparathyroidism have been reported. This study aimed to analyse regional variations in parathyroidectomy incidence with respect to the patient's disease burden and socioeconomic status. METHODS: A population-based case-control study included all patients with primary hyperparathyroidism who underwent parathyroidectomy in Sweden between 2008 and 2017 and 10 matched controls. Data on demographic and socioeconomic variables, co-morbidities and drug prescriptions were collected from relevant national registers. Conditional logistic regression was used to analyse predictors of parathyroidectomy. RESULTS: A total of 8626 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (77% women) underwent parathyroidectomy during the study interval. The annual incidence of parathyroidectomy was 9.0 per 100 000 persons. The annual age-adjusted regional incidences of parathyroidectomy varied between 3.3 and 16.9 operations per 100 000 inhabitants. Except for a small underrepresentation of patients with lower education, no effect of socioeconomic variables was observed. Compared with matched controls, the parathyroidectomy group had increased odds ratios of having developed classical symptoms of primary hyperparathyroidism and being prescribed medication against cardiovascular disorders and psychiatric illness at the time of parathyroidectomy. Increased risks of kidney stones and osteoporosis were observed 5 years before parathyroidectomy. Patients with primary hyperparathyroidism selected for parathyroidectomy from regions with a low incidence of operations had a higher prevalence of kidney stones, osteoporosis and hypertension, as well as larger adenomas and higher calcium levels at the time of parathyroidectomy compared with patients in high-incidence regions. CONCLUSION: The considerable variation in parathyroidectomy seems more likely associated with different clinical thresholds for detection of primary hyperparathyroidism and referral to surgery than socioeconomic disparities.

Preoperative chemotherapy decreases the need for re-excision of breast cancers between 2 and 4 cm diameter.

INTRODUCTION: It is accepted that preoperative chemotherapy can result in increased breast preservation for breast cancers greater than 4 cm. The benefits of preoperative chemotherapy are less clear, however, for patients who present with smaller tumors and are already candidates for breast-preserving surgery. The goal of this study is to assess the effect of preoperative chemotherapy on breast cancers between 2 and 4 cm diameter. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was conducted of patients diagnosed with new breast cancer at the Yale-New Haven Breast Center for the years 2002-2007. Patients were included in the study if their breast cancer was between 2 and 4 cm and their initial surgical treatment had been completed. Patients with distant metastases were excluded. RESULTS: There were 156 new cancers that met study requirements. Forty-seven patients underwent preoperative chemotherapy, and 109 patients had their surgery first, usually followed by chemotherapy. Initial surgery was lumpectomy for 31 out of 47 patients (66%) in the preoperative chemotherapy group compared with 62 out of 109 patients (57%) in the surgery group. For patients with lumpectomies, 2 out of 31 patients (6%) in the preoperative group had positive margins and required re-excision compared with 20 out of 62 patients (37%) in the surgery-first group (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that, for tumors between 2 and 4 cm, preoperative chemotherapy is associated with a significantly decreased rate of re-excision following lumpectomy. This not only results in fewer mastectomies, but also avoids the morbidity and inferior cosmetic results associated with a re-excision lumpectomy.

Major cardiac rupture following surgical treatment for deep sternal wound infection.

We report a case of an 80-year old male patient who sustained a major rupture of the right ventricle after surgical revision of an infected sternotomy wound following coronary artery bypass surgery. The rupture of the right ventricle occurred despite an early wound debridement and the use of negative pressure wound therapy on the sternum that did not provide sufficient stability to the sternum after the sternal wires were removed. The rupture resulted in a major bleeding but by establishing emergent cardiopulmonary bypass, the patient was saved.