Biomedical subjects

Philip H G Ituarte

Publications and source records attributed to Philip H G Ituarte.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Follicular thyroid carcinoma: histology and prognosis.

BACKGROUND: Follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) is the second most common thyroid malignancy after papillary thyroid carcinoma. The authors studied the clinical course of 132 patients with FTC to determine whether there was a direct relation between the histologic degree of invasion, tumor recurrence, and patient survival. METHODS: The 132 patients in the study population underwent 182 thyroid carcinoma-related operations, and their mean follow-up was 7.5 years (median:,6 years; range, 0-39 years). The following criteria were used to define malignant follicular neoplasms: 1) minimally invasive, tumor invasion through the entire thickness of the tumor capsule; 2) moderately invasive, tumor with angioinvasion (with or without capsular invasion); and 3) widely invasive, broad area or areas of transcapsular invasion of thyroid and extrathyroidal tissue. Forty-five of 119 patients (37.8%) presented with minimally invasive FTC (capsular invasion only), 50 patients (42%) presented with moderately invasive FTC (angioinvasion with or without capsular invasion), and 24 patients (20%) presented with widely invasive FTC. At presentation, 12 patients (9%) had distant metastases, and 8 patients (6%) had lymph node metastases. RESULTS: Excluding 12 patients who presented with distant metastases, 21 patients (16%) developed recurrent metastases 6 months after their initial treatment. Among 45 patients with capsular invasion only, 6 patients (13%) developed recurrent or persistent disease, and 5 patients (11%) died. Of the 50 patients who had angioinvasion with or without capsular invasion, 10 patients (20%) developed recurrent or persistent disease, and 7 patients (14%) died. Patients who had angioinvasion with or without capsular invasion had a less favorable prognosis compared with patients who had capsular invasion only (P < 0.0001). Among patients who had widely invasive FTC, 9 of 24 patients (38%) developed recurrent disease, and 8 patients (33%) died; in addition, 7 of the other 24 patients (29%) had persistent disease and died. The overall death rate for patients with widely invasive FTC was 62%. Patients with persistent disease had a poorer prognosis compared with patients who had recurrent disease (P < 0.0001). Twenty-eight patients (21%) in the entire group died of FTC. CONCLUSIONS: In the current retrospective investigation, the authors demonstrate that patients with minimally invasive FTC (capsular invasion only) had a slightly better survival rate at 5 years (98%) compared with patients who had angioinvasion with or without capsular invasion (80%) and had better survival compared with patients who had widely invasive FTC (38%). Other (but not all) reports in the literature support the findings that FTC with angioinvasion is more aggressive than FTC with only capsular invasion yet is less aggressive than widely invasive FTC. The authors conclude that FTC no longer should be classified as either minimally invasive or widely invasive; rather, they recommend classifying FTC as minimally invasive, moderately invasive, or widely invasive, because prognosis varies according to these groupings.

Adenocarcinoma, Follicular↗

PubMed2004

The NIH criteria for parathyroidectomy in asymptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism: are they too limited?

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether preoperative and postoperative symptoms and outcome differ in patients who meet or fail to meet the NIH criteria for parathyroidectomy. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: The NIH Consensus Conference on primary hyperparathyroidism in 1990 defined criteria for surgical intervention suggesting that some patients can be safely managed without surgery. METHODS: Over a 3-year period, 202 consecutive patients undergoing parathyroidectomy for primary hyperparathyroidism at a tertiary referral center were prospectively given a questionnaire regarding their symptoms and associated conditions during their initial and follow-up office visits as were 63 thyroid control patients. The 178 patients who completed the follow-up questionnaire were assigned to 2 groups according to the NIH criteria for parathyroidectomy. The frequency of preoperative symptoms and conditions associated with primary hyperparathyroidism as well as postoperative improvement in symptoms and surgical outcome were compared. RESULTS: Of the 178 parathyroid patients, 103 met the NIH criteria for parathyroidectomy whereas 75 did not. Patient profiles were similar in each group except mean ages, 55 versus 65, and preoperative serum calcium levels, 11.5 mg/dL versus 11.0 mg/dL (NIH and non-NIH groups, respectively; P < 0.001). The incidence of preoperative nonspecific somatic and neuropsychiatric symptoms and associated conditions was equivalent in both groups and more common than in the 63 thyroid control patients. After parathyroidectomy, symptomatic improvement was dramatic and equal between the 2 parathyroid groups. Postoperative mean serum calcium levels were similar (8.78 mg/dL, NIH group, versus 8.75 mg/dL, non-NIH group). CONCLUSION: Symptoms were more common in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism versus thyroid controls, but were not different between those patients who met the NIH criteria for parathyroidectomy and those who did not. Patients in both parathyroid groups benefited symptomatically after successful parathyroidectomy.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Complications of neck dissection for thyroid cancer.

Prophylactic and therapeutic neck dissections are used to control or eliminate local nodal disease in patients with thyroid cancer. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the results and complications of neck dissection. From 1992 to 1999 a series of 115 consecutive neck dissections were performed in 74 patients (32 men, 42 women; mean age 48 years) with thyroid cancer and nodal metastases. Operations included central compartment, lateral modified, and suprahyoid dissection with and without total or completion thyroidectomy. Sixty-four percent of the patients had papillary, 4% follicular, and 32% medullary thyroid cancer. Complications included transient hypocalcemia (23%) defined by a postoperative serum calcium level of <2.0 mmol/L (8.0 mg/dl), one neck hematoma (0.9%), and one cardiac death (0.9%). There were no permanent recurrent nerve palsies. Hypocalcemia occurred more frequently when neck dissection was combined with total thyroidectomy than without it (p <0.005). In this group, the incidence of hypocalcemia was higher after central, than lateral, neck dissection. When neck dissection was performed without thyroidectomy, there was no difference in the rates of hypocalcemia between central, lateral, or central with lateral neck dissection (p = NS). Hypocalcemia did not increase with repeated neck dissections (p = NS). Permanent hypoparathyroidism occurred in 0.9%. There were no complications after suprahyoid dissection. The median duration of hospitalization was 1 day. Therapeutic neck dissection or repeated neck dissection can be performed relatively safely in patients with thyroid cancer. Hypocalcemia occurs most frequently when neck dissection is combined with total thyroidectomy.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Parathyroid surgery: separating promise from reality.

We set out to determine the accuracy in predicting the success of biochemical and localizing studies for use in a minimally invasive parathyroidectomy. Preoperative sestamibi scans, intraoperative gamma-probe examinations, and intraoperative PTH (IOPTH) monitoring were performed on a prospective cohort of patients. Seventy-one patients were included in the study. Of the 59 patients (83%) with primary HPT, adenoma localization by sestamibi scanning was correct in 95% with solitary adenomas, but was correct in only 25% of the 14 patients with multiple adenomas. In patients with secondary and tertiary disease, sestamibi scanning incorrectly identified a single hot spot in 64% of cases. In no case of hyperplasia was the probe useful in locating other glands after a single gland was removed. IOPTH was accurate in 78% of patients with primary disease and in only 45% of patients with nonprimary disease. A minimal approach can be considered in a select group of patients that does not have familial primary HPT, secondary or tertiary disease, coexisting thyroid pathology, or an equivocal sestamibi scan. Only patients with a positive single hot spot on sestamibi scan can be considered candidates. Using this criteria only 64% of all patients with hyperparathyroidism are candidates for a minimally invasive approach. The combination of a solitary hot spot on sestamibi scan and a fall in IOPTH allows the surgeon to make the correct decision regarding the need to convert to a bilateral approach in 93% of these selected patients.

Adult↗