Trends in Mortality for Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer: Have We Made Progress?

Introduction: Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) has one of the highest mortality rates of all human malignancies, accounting for two-thirds of all thyroid cancer deaths. Despite multimodal treatment, ATC still has a reported median survival period of 6 mo. Recent single-center studies have reported improved survival with the approval of new treatments for ATC.

Establishing a Research-Related Patient and Family Advisory Council for a Surgical Specialty.

Engaging patients and family members in formal feedback for health care processes can be impactful, especially when cultivating new care and research protocols. However, most surgical groups lack established systems for enlisting these critical stakeholders. This is a descriptive report of how we built our Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) through a multistep process with patients, providers, research staff, and administrators.

Evaluation of Adrenal Incidentaloma.

Adrenal incidentalomas have increased due to advanced and more sensitive imaging modalities, their increased utilization, and the aging population. Most adrenal incidentalomas are nonfunctional and benign, but a subset of patients has functional and/or malignant tumors. The evaluation of patients with an adrenal incidentaloma involves addressing 2 clinical questions: (1) Is the tumor functional? (2) Is the tumor malignant? A careful history and physical examination focused on signs and symptoms of adrenal functional tumors, biochemical testing, and imaging features are the cornerstone in the evaluation of patients with an adrenal incidentaloma.

Targeted Muscle Reinnervation for Treatment of Postresection Interdigital Neuroma: A Cadaveric Feasibility Study.

Background: Symptomatic postresection interdigital neuroma is a frustrating problem that causes debilitating foot pain. Implementing the concepts of targeted muscle innervation, this study offers a novel nerve transfer involving the resected third common plantar digital nerve (CPDN) to the motor nerve branch of the third dorsal interosseous muscle (DIMB) to improve postresection pain.

Methods: Ten fresh feet from seven cadaveric donors were used for this study.