Transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy vestibular approach (TOETVA): initial experience in Australia.

Background: Thyroidectomy is traditionally an open procedure. The potential for and unpredictability of patients developing an unsightly anterior neck scar has led many investigators to develop various 'scarless' thyroidectomy techniques. Here we report on our initial experience, and to our knowledge, the first and largest series of this technique in Australia and New Zealand.

Investigation of Optical Coherence Microelastography as a Method to Visualize Cancers in Human Breast Tissue.

An accurate intraoperative identification of malignant tissue is a challenge in the surgical management of breast cancer. Imaging techniques that help address this challenge could contribute to more complete and accurate tumor excision, and thereby help reduce the current high reexcision rates without resorting to the removal of excess healthy tissue. Optical coherence microelastography (OCME) is a three-dimensional, high-resolution imaging technique that is sensitive to microscale variations of the mechanical properties of tissue.

Optical coherence micro-elastography: mechanical-contrast imaging of tissue microstructure.

We present optical coherence micro-elastography, an improved form of compression optical coherence elastography. We demonstrate the capacity of this technique to produce en face images, closely corresponding with histology, that reveal micro-scale mechanical contrast in human breast and lymph node tissues. We use phase-sensitive, three-dimensional optical coherence tomography (OCT) to probe the nanometer-to-micrometer-scale axial displacements in tissues induced by compressive loading.

Needle optical coherence elastography for the measurement of microscale mechanical contrast deep within human breast tissues.

Optical coherence elastography (OCE) is an emerging imaging technique that probes microscale mechanical contrast in tissues with the potential to differentiate healthy and malignant tissues. However, conventional OCE techniques are limited to imaging the first 1 to 2 mm of tissue in depth. We demonstrate, for the first time, OCE measurements deep within human tissues using needle OCE, extending the potential of OCE as a surgical guidance tool.

Valentino's syndrome a perforated peptic ulcer mimicking acute appendicitis.

The authors present a case of a 30-year-old female who presented with symptoms and signs suggestive of appendicitis accompanied by elevated inflammatory markers. The patient was consented and taken to theatre for laparoscopic apendicectomy. At operation, the appendix was found to be normal but with surrounding turbid fluid in the right paracolic gutter and subhepatic space.

Dorsal mesenteric agenesis without small bowel atresia: a rare cause of midgut volvulus in children.

Agenesis of the dorsal mesentery in association with jejunal atresia is a well-recognized congenital anomaly. Only few reports exist in the English literature of children with agenesis of the dorsal mesentery without small bowel atresia. Herein, we report a child with total mesenteric agenesis presenting with midgut volvulus owing to internal herniation of the small bowel through a mesenteric defect, with normal fixation and rotation of the bowel.