Introduction: Retrosternal goiter can cause respiratory distress, dysphagia, compression of great vessels, and even sudden death. Surgery is the only effective treatment. The presence of retrosternal extension is an indication for surgery even in the absence of clinical symptoms as it will continue to grow and cause pressure symptoms eventually. Intra operative and post operative airway managem...

Postoperative hypoparathyroidism is one of the most frequent complications after thyroid surgery with the incidence being reported to vary from 1.6% to 50% [1-4]. The causes of the postoperative hypoparathyroidism include surgical trauma to the parathyroid glands, inexperience of the surgeon, hyperthyroidism, retrosternal goiter, extent of neck dissection, and thyroid carcinoma. Post-thyroidect...

METHODS From October 1998 to December 2002 in the Department of Surgery at the University of Pisa, 16 patients ages 18 years or younger (14 girls, 87.5%, and 2 boys, 12.5%; range, 11 to 18; mean age, 15 years, 8 months) underwent a surgical operation with video-assisted technique for thyroid pathology. These patients belong to a larger group of 270 patients treated with this technique. Surgical...

THE RELATIONSHIP of the thyroid gland to the severity of atheroselerosis in experimental animals has been clearly established,1 and the effects of hypothyroidism on cholesterol metabolism in man are well known.2 Although commonly affirmed in textbooks,3-5 there is still insufficient evidence that hypothyroidism in man aggravates the severity of atherosclerosis.6 Complementary evidence would be ...

Euthyroid multinodular goiters may lead to acute respiratory failure caused by airway obstruction or laryngotracheal compression. Here, we present a case admitted to the nephrologist with multinodular goiter spontaneous hemorrhage along with respiratory failure and end-stage renal disease (ESRD), which required urgent surgical intervention.We report the case of a 63-year-old woman with ESRD who...

A randomized clinical trial was performed in consecutive patients with sporadic nontoxic nodular goiter to compare efficacy and side effects of iodine-131 ((131)I) therapy with suppressive levothyroxine (L-thyroxine) treatment. Sixty-four patients were randomized after stratification for sex and menopausal age to receive (131)I (4.44 MBq/g thyroid; group A) or suppressive L-thyroxine treatment ...

This best evidence topic on cardiothoracic surgery was written using a structured protocol. The question addressed was: 'in an adult patient requiring cardiac surgery, can a thyroidectomy for a large retrosternal goitre be performed with good outcomes as a combined procedure?' Of 150 papers identified through the literature search, 16 represented the best evidence to answer the clinical questio...

Retrosternal goitre is usually referred to as enlarged thyroid gland with greater than 50% of its mass below the thoracic inlet. It has a clinical importance because its compressive symptoms may cause diagnostic problems and the selection of surgical approach is sometimes difficult. This report presents a case of shortness of breath in a young female who was treated as a case of long term asthm...

UNLABELLED Thyroid gland morphology is affected in patients with chronic kidney disease. THE AIM The purpose of this study was to compare thyroid gland morphology among patients on chronic hemodialysis (HD) and healthy participants and to assess the duration of dialysis on thyroid disorders. MATERIAL AND METHODS Prospective study included 80 participants divided into two groups. Study group...

Resistance to thyroid hormone (RTH) is a rare syndrome of reduced responsiveness of target tissues to thyroid hormone and is caused mutation in the thyroid β receptor gene. We report a novel mutation, E445X, causing RTH in a 4-year old girl. The patient exhibited extreme signs and symptoms of RTH at an early age, and had a large compressive goiter. Following total extracapsular thyroidectomy, u...