Large colloid goiters with substernal components.
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Clinical picture, methods of diagnosis and treatment of 42 patients with retrosternal (23), "diving" (6), and mediastinal (13) strumas were studied. A conclusion was drawn that these goiters had no specific signs. In the absence of thyrotoxicosis the clinical picture is conditioned by the compression and displacement of the mediastinal organs, and in its presence symptoms characteristic of thyrotoxic goiter are added. The most important method of diagnosis of retrosternal and mediastinal goiters in considered to be polypositional roentgenotomography, pneumomediastinography, contrast examination of the esophagus, trachea, vessels, and, in a number of patients, radioiodinediagnosis. Surgical treatment of retrosternal and mediastinal goiters is recommended.
Most often thyroidectomy is recommended in patients with large goiters. However, high-dose (131)I therapy may be used in case of contraindications to surgery. Large goiters are often partially located in the mediastinum. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of (131)I therapy on the cervical and the substernal goiter volume, separately. Fourteen patients (median age, 69 years; range, 52-86 years) with a large multinodular goiter (three hyperthyroid) and with a substernal extension greater than 15 mL were included. T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) estimates of the thyroid volume in the cervical and substernal compartments were obtained before and 1 year after high-dose (131)I therapy. The total goiter volumes ranged from 182 to 685 mL. The median substernal volume was 66 mL (fraction of total volume, 17.6%; range, 8.0%-78.9%). One year after treatment, the median substernal goiter volume was reduced by 29.2% (range, -6.1%-59.4%, mean: 26.1% +/- 6.0%), and the cervical goiter volume by 30.3% (range, 6.0%-75.4%, mean, 35.6 +/- 5.6%) compared to baseline values; p = 0.25 for difference in a regional effect. The volume reduction was unrelated to initial substernal goiter size. Likewise, deterioration of the inspiratory capacity did not correlate with the magnitude of the substernal goiter extension. In conclusion, high-dose (131)I therapy seems as effective in reducing the substernal as the cervical goiter volume. However, because the overall effect is modest, this therapy should primarily be considered for the patient with a high surgical risk.
HYPOTHESIS: Recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis after thyroidectomy can be unrecognized without routine laryngoscopy, and patients have a good potential for recovery during follow-up. DESIGN: A prospective evaluation of vocal cord function before and after thyroidectomy. Periodic vocal cord assessment was performed until recovery of cord function. Persistent cord palsy for longer than 12 months after the operation was regarded as permanent. SETTING: A university hospital with about 150 thyroid operations performed by 1 surgical team per year. PATIENTS: From January 1, 1995, to April 30, 1998, 500 consecutive patients (84 males and 416 females) with documented normal cord function at the ipsilateral side of the thyroidectomy were studied. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Vocal cord paralysis after thyroidectomy. RESULTS: There were 213 unilateral and 287 bilateral procedures, with 787 nerves at risk of injury. Thirty-three patients (6.6%) developed postoperative unilateral cord paralysis, and 5 (1.0%) had recognizable nerve damage during the operations. Complete recovery of vocal cord function was documented in 26 (93%) of 28 patients. The incidence of temporary and permanent cord palsy was 5.2% and 1.4% (3.3% and 0.9% of nerves at risk), respectively. Among factors analyzed, surgery for malignant neoplasm and recurrent substernal goiter was associated with an increased risk of permanent nerve palsy. Primary operations for benign goiter were associated with a 5.3% and 0.3% incidence (3.4% and 0.2% of nerves at risk) of transient and permanent nerve palsy, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Unrecognized recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy occurred after thyroidectomy. Thyroid surgery for malignant neoplasms and recurrent substernal goiter was associated with an increased risk of permanent recurrent nerve damage. Postoperative vocal cord dysfunction recovered in most patients without documented nerve damage.
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Because of their tendency to progressively enlarge with compression of adjacent structures, as well as the small chance of malignancy, most intrathoracic goiters should be excised surgically. Most anterior substernal goiters and some ipsilateral posterior mediastinal goiters can be removed safely through a cervical incision. Large posterior mediastinal goiters, contralateral retrotracheal or retroesophageal posterior mediastinal goiters, and isolated mediastinal goiters with no significant cervical connection are best removed through a combined cervical and thoracic approach. The Lahey Clinic experience with three patients with posterior mediastinal goiter is described.
The authors relate their experience with 7 cases of mediastinal goiter residual to a subtotal thyroidectomy for substernal goiter. The differential diagnosis with ordinary recurrence was based on the absence of connection with the cervical remnant. The reasons for surgical decision-making was mediastinal compression in 4 patients, hyperthyroidism in 1 patient and absent diagnosis in 1 patient; surgery was systematic in 1 asymptomatic patient. Sternal splitting incision was required in 6 patients: alone in 3, associated with cervical incision in 3 others; excision by an exclusively cervical route was possible in one patient. No malignancy was discovered. Postoperative outcome was uncomplicated in all patients. The residual goiter has the same clinical and paraclinical presentation as the ordinary intrathoracic goiter; treatment should be principally surgical for the same reasons. Nevertheless, for this mediastinal tumor, sternum-splitting incision will be required in most cases.
PURPOSE: To review the diagnosis and management of thyroid diseases, both metabolic (thyroid storm and myxedema coma) and anatomic (substernal goiter, lymphoma, anaplastic carcinoma) that may require intensive care therapy. DATA SOURCES: English-language articles were identified through a search of the MEDLINE and Index Medicus databases. Bibliographies of retrieved articles were examined for relevant articles. STUDY SELECTION: Approximately 250 articles were reviewed. Those articles deemed most representative were utilized. Case reports were included to highlight rare, but potentially lethal complications. DATA EXTRACTION: All data were analyzed by one observer. Limitations of the data are discussed. DATA SYNTHESIS: Guidelines for determining the etiology of thyrotoxic crisis are outlined. Criteria for distinguishing critically ill hypothyroid patients from those patients with the euthyroid sick syndrome are given. Therapy for both disorders must be aggressive and multifaceted, and detailed management is indicated. Substernal goiter is almost always benign, but may cause various acute complications, including dyspnea, respiratory failure, superior vena caval syndrome, esophageal varices (downhill), and others. Surgery almost always corrects the problem. Lymphomas present with rapid thyroid enlargement. Recent studies suggest that surgery may assume more of a supportive role, used principally to obtain adequate tissue for histologic classification. CONCLUSIONS: Thyroid disorders can produce emergencies requiring the attention of multiple medical and surgical specialists. While management is often successful, future studies should address the following three areas: a) optimization of thyroid hormone dose for treatment of myxedema coma; b) clarification of the role of radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy for thyroid lymphoma; and c) more effective therapy for anaplastic carcinoma.
Even though the incidence of multinodular goiter is decreasing in the United States, still we see a large number of neglected goiters causing pressure effects on the surrounding structures. Both tracheal and esophageal displacement cause compression symptoms. However, tracheal compression may lead to acute airway distress. Eighteen per cent of our patients presented with acute airway problems, requiring emergency admission or intubation. Surgical intervention has been our preferred approach whenever there are signs or symptoms of tracheoesophageal compression. Fifty-five per cent of patients had only tracheal compression, while 18 per cent had only esophageal compression. Twenty-seven per cent had compression of both trachea and esophagus. Eighty-five per cent of patients had some symptoms of compression, while only 15% were asymptomatic despite large goiters. Compression symptoms and acute problems were noticed more frequently in patients with substernal goiters. Our preoperative work-up regularly included complete history, physical examination, indirect laryngoscopy, and airway radiography. Barium studies were performed if patients had dysphagia. Computed tomography scans were utilized if there was mediastinal extension. Pulmonary flow volume studies were used to locate the site of compression. However, decisions relative to surgical intervention were based primarily on clinical judgment. Since the postoperative morbidity is minimal in surgery for thyroid abnormalities, we strongly recommend early surgical intervention in patients with tracheoesophageal compression caused by enlarged thyroids.
A 62-year-old white male presented with facial erythema and jugular vein distension in upright position which progressed to cyanosis and facial edema while keeping both arms elevated (Pemberton sign). A CT scan revealed a large substernal goiter as the cause of superior vena cava syndrome. Symptoms and signs disappeared after thyroid surgery. First reported in 1946 Pemberton's maneuver is a useful but unrecognized clinical sign for oligosymptomatic superior vena cava syndrome caused by a substernal mass.
Goiter with major respiratory compromise is uncommon but troublesome. Evaluation and treatment of this condition are controversial. Of a total of 2,908 goiters operated on over a 17-year period, 58 cases with this particular complication were studied retrospectively to define optimal management. Twenty-two patients had severe or acute dyspnea, and four of them required immediate tracheal intubation. Thirty-six patients had chronic dyspnea without cyanosis. Carcinoma was present in these two groups in 50% and 11% of patients, respectively. Results of our retrospective study are as follows: long-standing tolerance of goiter did not preclude the possibility of compressive respiratory distress or carcinoma. Optimal management of goiter with respiratory compression was obtained when surgery was delayed until satisfactory operating room conditions and adequate possibilities of interpretation of pathologic conditions were united. In case of respiratory distress, tracheal intubation allowed to abide without risks. In other patients preoperative investigations were kept to a minimum. Technical artifices facilitated the extraction of the goiter via cervicotomy without sternotomy in 92% of patients with minimal morbidity. Whenever necessary, endotracheal intubation obviated the need for tracheostomy. These data suggest preventive removal of all large or substernal goiters.
Even though thyroid enlargement occurs commonly, the incidence of goiter has decreased in the United States due to the routine use of iodized salt. We continue to see a large number of patients with neglected goiters that cause airway compression. The progressive nature of this disease occasionally results in severe tracheal compression and acute airway distress. We treated 120 patients with airway compression secondary to goiters during a 7-year period. Thirty patients presented initially with acute airway distress requiring either intubation or semiemergent surgery. The decision to operate was based primarily on clinical evaluation and airway films. Ninety patients had substernal goiters. Only one patient required sternal splitting. If one lobe was enlarged causing tracheal deviation, lobectomy was performed; if both lobes were enlarged, subtotal thyroidectomy was performed. Two patients required tracheostomy. There were no operative deaths, and morbidity was limited to minor wound problems. It is important to consider early surgical decompression whenever tracheal compression is caused by goiters, especially if the patients are symptomatic or there is mediastinal extension.
Over the last decades definitions and classifications of cervico-mediastinal goiters have been proposed. According to the definition of Valdoni and Tonelli, from 1968 to 1991 237 patients were operated on for cervico-mediastinal goiter. There were 168 simple forms (141 anterior and 27 posterior) and 69 complex forms according to Borrelly's classification. We analyse and discuss the clinical presentation, the diagnostic procedures and the surgical technique in relation to post-operative complications and long term results. The mean duration of symptoms before surgery in patients with cervico-mediastinal goiter was longer than in subjects with cervical goiters. All but 8 operations were performed through a cervical incision. Two patients, both with advanced tumor, died postoperatively. Post-operative complications were: hemorrhage 0.8%, dysphonia 4.6% and transient hypoparathyroidism 2.9%. A clinical follow-up was available for 194 patients. Permanent dyspnea was observed in 1.0%, dysphonia in 4.6% and transient hypoparathyroidism in 2.9%. Tracheotomy was necessary in 5 cases. Complications were more frequent after total thyroidectomy than after partial resection (p < 0.05), after surgery for malignancy than for benign disease (p < 0.05) and in complex than in simple forms (p < 0.05). Almost all cervico-mediastinal goiters can be treated by a cervical incision. Sternotomy, when required, does not influence mobility and mortality. The lacking of an alternative treatment, the relatively high incidence of malignancy and the risk of acute airway obstruction should induce the early removal of all substernal goiters.
The retrospective analysis of 489 cases of substernal and intrathoracic goiters among 4122 patients undergoing surgical treatment between 1984 and 1996 due to various thyroid gland diseases including clinical data, surgical technics and early postoperative complications was performed. The surgical procedures of substernal and intrathoracic goiter amounted to 11.9% of all thyroid gland surgery. In 468 (95.5%) patients goiter was situated substernally, in 22 (4.5%) intrathoracicaly. The mean age and time of goiter growth in that location exceeded over 10 years the location of goiter within the neck. In preoperative examination the X-ray of chest and trachea were essential. Routine ultrasonography and thyroid gland scyntigraphy were scarcely helpful as the retrosternal and mediastinal region were often omitted. The jugular access was dominant (98.6%), sternotomy was performed in 1.4% of cases due to big disproportion between size of the goiter and size of the upper inlet into the chest. The surgical complications, similarly as in goiter within the neck (no cases of pneumothorax were observed), included the single-side paresis of recurrent laryngeal nerve in 3.7% of patients, in 0.2% hypoparathyroidism, in 1% bleeding requiring reoperation and in 0.2% esophageal fistula (self-healed). The surgical treatment of retrosternal and intramediastineal goiter was safe and a total number of complications was comparable to that one in a group of patients under-going surgery due to goiter within the neck. Most of surgical procedures was possible to perform using the jugular access. In a small number of cases because of difficulties related to the anatomical conditions the access was reached through the oblong sternotomy.
A 55-year-old woman with total situs inversus viscerum was subjected to total thyroidectomy for a well-differentiated follicular thyroid carcinoma. After surgery the patient remained euthyroid for two months and serum TSH did not rise. A whole body scan with iodine-131 (131I) showed mediastinal uptake. A chest computed tomography visualized a sequestered substernal goiter. Upon the patient's refusal to undergo surgery, she was treated with 150 mCi of 131I. A further dose of 100 mCi of 131I was administered six months later. Ten years after treatment, the patient is still alive and disease-free.
Goiters that descend into the mediastinum can cause respiratory embarrassment, dysphagia, vascular compression, vocal cord paralysis, and sudden death. Although many such goiters remain clinically silent, their ability to produce sudden and unpredictable respiratory distress is well known. The condition was not considered uncommon in the first half of the twentieth century; some authors reported series of hundreds of thyroidectomies for intrathoracic goiter. Though seen less frequently today, the only effective treatment for mediastinal goiter is surgical removal. We report our experience with the management of 70 consecutive patients with substernal or intrathoracic goiters. The clinical presentation, preoperative evaluation, operative technique, and results and complications of therapy are discussed. Consideration is also given to the pathogenesis of intrathoracic extension. The transcervical approach for resection is emphasized--even goiters extending to the aortic arch were safely removed without requiring sternotomy. A multidisciplinary team approach, including the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and endocrinologist, is essential. Because of more conservative trends in the selection of patients for thyroidectomy, the incidence of mediastinal goiter may be increasing.
Thirty-one patients were operated on for benign thyromegaly extending to the thorax in an 11-year period at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. Neck mass (65%), dysphagia (36%), and dyspnea (32%) were the most common symptoms. All patients were euthyroid. Five patients had previous thyroid surgery. A thyroid scan was performed on 24-patients. Fourteen (58%) suggested a thoracic extension while ten (42%) failed to identify a thoracic extension. The indications for resection were increasing symptoms, increasing size despite the use of dessicated thyroid therapy, and to establish a diagnosis. The left thyroid lobe extended into the thorax more frequently (70%) than the right. Most patients had multinodular goiter (94%). Three patients had occult carcinoma (10%) and two patients had Hashimoto's disease. Median sternotomy combined with a collar incision to provide exposure for excision of intrathoracic thyroid extension was used in six patients. There was no operative mortality. There was no increase in operative morbidity and a slight increase in average stay from 5.3 days with a collar incision alone to 6.8 days with the combined incisions. Median sternotomy does not increase morbidity or mortality. Specific indications for more liberal use of sternotomy extension of a collar incision are proposed for the management of substernal and intrathoracic goiters.