Clinical Outcomes of Thermal Ablation Re-Treatment of Benign Thyroid Nodules: A Multicenter Study from the Italian Minimally Invasive Treatments of the Thyroid Group.

Thermal ablation (TA) is an established therapeutic option alternative to surgery in patients with solid benign thyroid nodules causing local symptoms. However, a variable part of thyroid nodules remain viable after these nonsurgical treatments, and as many as 15% of nodules treated with TA may require a second treatment over time. This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of TA re-treatment on symptomatic benign thyroid nodules where the volume decreased by <50% after the first procedure ( = technique inefficacy).

2022 Expert consensus on the use of laser ablation for papillary thyroid microcarcinoma.

Objective: With the aim of standardizing and improving the use of ultrasound-guided PLA on PTMC, a panel of experts from China and Italy, jointly issued this expert consensus on the clinical use of PLA for low-risk PTMC.

Methods: This expert consensus was developed by Chinese and Italian experts who have specific competence and expertise in this area. An evidence-based approach combining the knowledge and practical experience of the panelists was utilized.

Ultrasound-guided laser ablation of very large benign thyroid nodules: 4-year, retrospective follow-up in 24 patients.

Background: Percutaneous, ultrasound-guided laser ablation is a proven management approach for the treatment of Benign Thyroid Nodules (BTN), but only sporadic cases of treatment of large-volume nodules with laser ablation have been reported. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of laser ablation in the treatment of very large (> 100 mL) thyroid nodules.

Methods: Between 2009 and 2016, 24 patients with very large, BTN received 2-3 sessions of laser ablation over the course of 12 months.

Image-guided thermal ablation in autonomously functioning thyroid nodules. A retrospective multicenter three-year follow-up study from the Italian Minimally Invasive Treatment of the Thyroid (MITT) Group.

Objectives: To report the results of a multicenter retrospective evaluation of the clinical outcomes of thermal ablation (TA) in a large series of autonomously functioning thyroid nodules (AFTN) with a follow-up protracted up to 3 years.

Methods: Patients treated with single TA for an AFTN in Italy were included. Changes in nodule volume, TSH values, and ongoing anti-thyroid therapy were assessed at the 2-, 6-, 12-, 24-, and 36-month follow-up controls.

Percutaneous Ultrasound-Guided Laser Ablation of Benign Thyroid Nodules: Results of 10-Year Follow-Up in 171 Patients.

Context: Percutaneous, ultrasound-guided laser ablation is effective in nodular thyroid disease.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term (10-year) efficacy and safety of laser ablation in the treatment of benign thyroid nodules.

Methods: From 2009 to 2010, 171 patients received a single session of laser ablation.

A single session of laser ablation for toxic thyroid nodules: three-year follow-up results.

Purpose: To confirm the effectiveness of laser ablation on toxic nodules in a large population with three years of follow-up.

Material And Methods: Between 2009 and 2014, we treated 82 patients with hyperthyroidism related to the presence of a toxic nodular goitre. Patients were pre-treated pharmacologically with methimazole prior to single session of laser ablation (LA) and then followed up every 3 months with FT4 and TSH blood tests as well as ultrasound examination of the nodules treated.

A comparison of laser with radiofrequency ablation for the treatment of benign thyroid nodules: a propensity score matching analysis.

Purpose: To compare technique efficacy and safety of laser ablation (LA) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in treatment of benign thyroid nodules.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval was obtained, and patients' consent was waived. 601 nodules were treated from May 2009 to December 2014 at eight centres, 449 (309 females, age 57 ± 14 years) with LA and 152 (107 females, age 57 ± 14 years) with RFA.

Outcomes and Risk Factors for Complications of Laser Ablation for Thyroid Nodules: A Multicenter Study on 1531 Patients.

Background: Image-guided laser ablation therapy (LAT) of benign thyroid nodules demonstrated favorable results in randomized trials with fixed modalities of treatment. The aim of this retrospective multicenter study was to assess the effectiveness, tolerability, and complications of LAT in a large consecutive series of patients from centers using this technique in their routine clinical activity.

Patients: Clinical records of 1534 consecutive laser-treated nodules in 1531 patients from eight Italian thyroid referral centers were assessed.

Thyroid nodule morphology affects the efficacy of ultrasound-guided interstitial laser ablation: a nested case-control study.

Purpose: The literature reports a wide range of percentages of ablation in the treatment of thyroid nodules. The aim of this nested case-control study was to evaluate whether the different morphological (well-defined vs. agglomerate) characteristics of nodules affect the success rate.

Long-term efficacy of ultrasound-guided laser ablation for benign solid thyroid nodules. Results of a three-year multicenter prospective randomized trial.

Background: The aim of the present trial on ultrasound (US)-guided laser ablation therapy (LAT) of solid thyroid nodules is to assess long-term clinical efficacy, side effects, and predictability of outcomes in different centers operating with the same procedure.

Patients: Two hundred consecutive patients were randomly assigned to a single LAT session (group 1, 101 cases) or to follow-up (group 2, 99 cases) at four thyroid referral centers. Entry criteria were: solid thyroid nodule with volume of 6-17 mL, repeat benign cytological findings, normal thyroid function, no autoimmunity, and no thyroid gland treatment.

The administration of anesthetic in the thyroid pericapsular region increases the possibility of side effects during percutaneous laser photocoagulation of thyroid nodules.

Background And Objective: Nodular thyroid disease is very frequent in iodine-deficient areas affecting at least 50% of the population. Percutaneous laser ablation (LA) represents an effective method and an alternative to conventional surgery. Since the first description of the LA methodology for thyroid nodules, various studies have suggested some modifications to increase the percentage of volume reduction of the nodules.

A useful ultrasound score to select thyroid nodules requiring fine needle aspiration in an iodine-deficient area.

Background: The high prevalence of thyroid nodules in iodine-deficient areas is a practical problem because of the large number of patients requiring fine needle aspiration (FNA) to detect malignant nodules.

Aim: To obtain an ultrasound (US) score for predicting malignant nodules and reduce the number of unnecessary and expensive FNA.

Subject And Method: All nodules observed from September 2001 to March 2006 were evaluated by US: echostructure, echogenicity, halo, microcalcifications and ratio between antero-posterior and transversal diameters (AP/TR).

Association of genetic polymorphisms and autoimmune Addison's disease.

Autoimmune Addison's disease (AAD) is a complex genetic disease that results from the interaction of a predisposing genetic background with as yet unknown environmental factors. The disease is marked by the appearance of circulating autoantibodies against steroid 21-hydroxylase. Mutations of the autoimmune regulator gene are responsible for the so-called autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type I (APS I), of which AAD is a major disease component.

Fine needle aspiration cytology of thyroid nodules: conventional vs thin layer technique.

Objective: Liquid-based cytology using the thin layer technique has recently been introduced in thyroid fine needle aspiration cytology together with or in substitution of direct smears, but its usefulness is still controversial and relatively few studies have been published in this field. The aim of the present study was to compare the results obtained from conventional smears with those from thin layer smears.

Design: In 3875 thyroid nodules, a double cytologic sampling was taken in randomized order, to prepare conventional or thin layer smears.

MICA gene polymorphism in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a typical autoimmune disease and results from the destruction of insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. It develops in the presence of genetic susceptibility, even though more than 85% of patients with T1DM do not have a close relative with the disorder. The etiology of T1DM is complex, and both genetic and environmental factors play important roles.

MICA A8: a new allele within MHC class I chain-related A transmembrane region with eight GCT repeats.

Analysis of the MICA gene revealed a trinucleotide repeat (GCT) microsatellite polymorphism within the transmembrane region. So far, seven alleles of the exon 5 of the MICA gene, which consist of 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10 repetitions of GCT or five repetitions of GCT with an additional nucleotide insertion (GGCT), have been identified. These alleles have been accordingly named A4, A5, A6, A7, A9, A10, and A5.

A randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of ultrasound-guided laser photocoagulation for treatment of benign thyroid nodules.

This randomized controlled study was designed to test the efficacy and safety of percutaneous ultrasound (US)-guided laser photocoagulation (PLP) for treatment of subjects with compressive symptoms due to benign thyroid nodules and/or at high surgical risk. Twenty six subjects were randomized to the intervention (no. 13, age 68+/-3 yr, mean+/-SEM) or observation (no.

Genetic polymorphism of chemokine receptors CCR2 and CCR5 in Swedish cervical cancer patients.

Chemokines are chemotactic cytokines that orchestrate leukocyte trafficking in tissues, thus, playing an important role in regulation of immunological processes. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical cancer with two DNA polymorphisms of the chemokine receptors CCR5-delta32 and CCR2-64I. The study material consisted of 50 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) cases and 50 of age and sampling-date matched controls, 100 invasive cervix cancer cases and 100 of their corresponding matched disease-free controls.

Exercise and diabetes.

Physical activity activates has acute and chronic effects on glucose, lipid and protein metabolism. In type 1 diabetic subjects, the lack of the physiological inhibition of insulin secretion during exercise results in a potential risk of hypoglycemia. On the other hand, exercise-induced activation of counterregulatory hormones might trigger an acute metabolic derangement in severe insulin-deficient subjects.

MHC2TA single nucleotide polymorphism and genetic risk for autoimmune adrenal insufficiency.

Context: The polymorphism of class II HLA genes modulates the genetic risk for several endocrine autoimmune diseases. The constitutive class II expression on antigen-presenting cells is under the control of the MHC class II transactivator, encoded by the MHC2TA gene, which is mapped to chromosome 16p13. The MHC2TA -168 A-->G single nucleotide polymorphism (rs3087456) has been suggested to confer susceptibility to some autoimmune diseases.

Successful treatment with rFVIIa of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage in a patient with mechanical prosthetic heart valves.

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is associated with high mortality in patients on oral anticoagulant treatment. The normalization of hemostatic balance usually requires slow-acting or risky treatments, such as vitamin K, fresh frozen plasma or prothrombin complex concentrates, which have narrow therapeutic windows particularly in cardiopathic patients like those with mechanical heart valves. Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) seems useful in patients with normal or pathologic coagulation who have an ICH.

Retrovirus-like long-terminal repeat DQ-LTR13 and genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes and autoimmune Addison's disease.

Controversial data are available on the association between the retrovirus-like long-terminal repeat (LTR) DQ-LTR13 and genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases. We analyzed DNA samples from 315 type 1 diabetic patients, 166 autoimmune Addison's disease (AAD) patients, 1,054 healthy subjects, and 144 families of type 1 diabetic offspring. DQ-LTR13 was more frequent among patients than healthy subjects (P(c) < 0.

Contribution of MHC class I chain-related A (MICA) gene polymorphism to genetic susceptibility for systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: To evaluate the contribution of the MHC class I chain-related A (MICA) gene polymorphism to the genetic risk of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: HLA-DRB1-DQA1-DQB1 genotyping, MICA exon 5 microsatellite genotyping and HLA-B8 genotyping were performed in 48 Italian SLE patients and in 158 healthy control subjects.

Results: Of HLA class II haplotypes, only DRB1*03-DQA1*0501-DQB1*0201 (DR3-DQ2) was significantly more frequent among SLE patients than among healthy control subjects [odds ratio (OR) = 6.