The association of Medicaid expansion and parathyroidectomy for benign disease: Insurance status remains an important factor in access to high-volume centers.

Background: Medicaid expansion has been associated with improved access to surgical care at high-volume centers. Its impact on parathyroidectomy, however, is unclear. We evaluated the association between Medicaid expansion and parathyroidectomy at high- and low-volume centers.

Reoperation Rates After Initial Thyroid Lobectomy for Patients with Thyroid Cancer: A National Cohort Study.

The 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines recommended thyroid lobectomy (TL) as an alternative to total thyroidectomy (TT) for the surgical treatment of low-risk differentiated thyroid cancer. Increasing use of TL has since been reported despite concerns for an increased risk of disease recurrence and need for reoperation. This study sought to compare reoperation rates among patients who underwent initial TL or TT for malignancy, characterize trends at centers based on operative volume, and examine factors associated with reoperation.

Which Ultrasound Characteristics Predict Lymphatic Spread of Papillary Thyroid Cancer?

Introduction: The 2015 American Thyroid Association guidelines recommend lymph node mapping US in patients with definitive cytological evidence of thyroid cancer. Suspicious lymph node features on imaging including enlarged size (>1 cm in any dimension), architectural distortion, loss of fatty hilum, and microcalcifications often prompt evaluation with fine needle aspiration. There is no universally agreed upon model for determining which ultrasound characteristics most strongly correlate with metastatic disease.

Association of Medicaid expansion with access to thyroidectomy for benign disease at high-volume centers.

Background: Insurance-based disparities in access to thyroidectomy are well established. Patients undergoing thyroidectomy by high-volume surgeons have fewer complications and better postoperative outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of Medicaid expansion with access to high-volume centers for thyroidectomy for benign disease.

Operative trends for pancreatic and hepatic malignancies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted routine health care, including many elective and non-cancer operations in the United States. Most hepato-pancreato-biliary malignancy patients require outpatient imaging, tissue sampling, and staging, and many undergo neoadjuvant therapy before operative intervention. The aims of this study were to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on hepato-pancreato-biliary oncologic operations and to determine whether trends in neoadjuvant therapy were altered by the pandemic.