[The thyroid one and goiter through the ages].

The written works and the works of art testify the goitres existed over thousands of years. However for a long time they were confused with scrofula and several cervical tumours. In fact the thyroid gland was only discovered and described at Renaissance and its role was known at the end of the XIXth century.

Intestinal obstruction by an enterolith from a perforated giant Meckel's diverticulum: diagnosis with CT reconstructed images.

Complications caused by Meckel's enteroliths are very rare. Diagnosis is not usually made before surgery because symptoms are often of little value and imaging may be difficult to interpret. Computed tomography (CT) scanning, which is increasingly performed in emergency situations, could help make the diagnosis.

Reoperative surgery for thyroid disease.

Background And Aims: Reoperative surgery for thyroid disease is rare. However, it is sometimes indicated for nodular recurrence after partial surgery for initially benign thyroid disease or for a completion total thyroidectomy when a final diagnosis of well-differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) is confirmed on a permanent section of a partially removed thyroid gland. This surgery can expose the patient to postoperative complications such as recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) palsy or hypoparathyroidism.

Extensive thyroidectomy in Graves' disease.

Background: The best surgical treatment for hyperthyroidism caused by Graves' disease remains a controversial subject.

Methods: Seven hundred fourteen consecutive patients underwent total or near-total thyroidectomy for Graves' disease in a 13-year period. In a first analysis, postoperative rates of suffocating hematoma, wound infection, recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) palsy, hypoparathyroidism, and persistence or recurrence of hyperthyroidism, were studied and compared with the same parameters in 4,426 patients who underwent bilateral thyroid gland resection for other conditions.