Predictive value of postoperative day 1 parathyroid hormone levels for early and late hypocalcaemia after thyroidectomy.

Purpose: Early parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels after total thyroidectomy can predict patients at low risk of hypocalcaemia who can be discharged early without calcium supplementation. For centres without facility to perform early PTH levels, PTH levels sent on the first postoperative day (POD1) may be an alternative. However, there is less data regarding optimal cut-off PTH levels for POD1 discharge.

Association between number of parathyroid glands identified during total thyroidectomy and functional parathyroid preservation.

Purpose: Systematic identification of all 4 parathyroid glands has been recommended during total thyroidectomy (TT); however, it is unclear whether this strategy necessarily translates into optimized functional parathyroid preservation. We wished to investigate the association between number of parathyroids identified intraoperatively during TT, and incidence of incidental parathyroidectomy, and postoperative hypoparathyroidism.

Methods: Retrospective review of prospectively maintained database of 511 consecutive patients undergoing TT at an academic teaching hospital.

Perioperative magnesium levels in total thyroidectomy and relationship to hypocalcemia.

Background: We have previously shown an association between hypomagnesemia and hypocalcemia after thyroidectomy. However, little is known regarding the trend in magnesium levels in the days after thyroidectomy. Our objective was to study this trend in magnesium levels after thyroidectomy.

Outcome of Subclassification of Indeterminate (Thy-3) Thyroid Cytology into Thy-3a and Thy-3f.

Objectives: The British Thy system is a widely used classification system for reporting thyroid fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology. The Royal College of Pathologists in 2009 recommended the subdivision of the Thy-3 (indeterminate) category into Thy-3a (atypia) and Thy-3f (follicular neoplasm). Our objective was to examine the malignancy rates of Thy-3a and Thy-3f cases at our institution and to investigate whether the risk of malignancy in Thy-3a cases is reduced by FNA on a different occasion showing benign cytology.

A Case Report Demonstrating How the Clinical Presentation of the Diffuse Sclerosing Variant of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Can Mimic Benign Riedel's Thyroiditis.

A 44-year-old female presented with a two-month history of a neck mass, sore throat, hoarseness, and intermittent dysphagia. Examination revealed a "woody" hard swelling arising from the right lobe of the thyroid. Clinically this was felt to be classical Riedel's thyroiditis (RT).

Pigeons use high spatial frequencies when memorizing pictures.

The ability of animals to visually memorize and categorize a large number of pictures is well established. Determining the kinds of information animals use to accomplish these goals has been more difficult. This experiment examined the contribution of spatial frequency information to picture memorization by pigeons.

Impact of postoperative magnesium levels on early hypocalcemia and permanent hypoparathyroidism after thyroidectomy.

Background: Postoperative hypocalcemia is a common complication of thyroidectomy. Magnesium is known to modulate serum calcium levels and hypomagnesemia may impede correction of hypocalcemia. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether hypomagnesemia after thyroidectomy has any impact on early hypocalcemia and/or permanent hypoparathyroidism.

Follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma: differences from conventional disease in cytologic findings and high-risk features.

Importance: The follicular variant (FV) of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is an important subtype that can be difficult to diagnose using preoperative cytologic analysis.

Objective: To compare conventional and FV PTC with regard to preoperative cytologic diagnosis using a tiered thyroid cytologic reporting system, tumor size at diagnosis, presence of invasion, and implications on prognostic scores.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective study was conducted in an academic teaching hospital and included 99 patients with conventional (n = 65) or FV (n = 34) PTC.

Thyroid tubercle of zuckerkandl is more consistently present and larger on the right: a prospective series.

Objective: The tubercle of Zuckerkandl (TZ) is a lateral projection from the thyroid lobe in the vicinity of the extralaryngeal termination of the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN), which is a very useful landmark for identification of the RLN during thyroidectomy. The purpose of the present study was to test our hypothesis that the TZ is more consistently found and is larger on the right than on the left side, and to investigate the frequency of anatomic variations of the TZ.

Study Design: Prospective cohort study of 156 consecutive patients undergoing primary total thyroidectomy at an academic teaching hospital.

Vitamin D and risk of postoperative hypocalcemia after total thyroidectomy.

Importance: Transient hypocalcemia is a well-recognized occurrence after total thyroidectomy. It has been hypothesized that underlying vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of this complication, although to date there are few data in the literature supporting this hypothesis.

Objective: To investigate whether perioperative vitamin D levels have any effect on postthyroidectomy hypocalcemia.

Symptomatic hypocalcaemia secondary to PTH resistance associated with hypomagnesaemia after elective embolisation of uterine fibroid.

Four weeks after elective embolisation of a symptomatic benign uterine fibroid, a lady presented to her general practitioner with facial twitching and severe lassitude. Acute hypocalcaemia was diagnosed. Further investigations demonstrated hypomagnesaemia.

Is systematic identification of all four parathyroid glands necessary during total thyroidectomy?: a prospective study.

Objectives/hypothesis: Routine identification of all four parathyroid glands has been advocated as a means of reducing rates of postoperative hypocalcemia and inadvertent parathyroidectomy. The object of the present study was to investigate whether identification of more parathyroid glands during thyroidectomy performed by capsular dissection technique had any impact on incidence of postoperative hypocalcemia and unintentional parathyroid resection.

Study Design: Prospective cohort study of consecutive patients undergoing total thyroidectomy by capsular dissection technique over a 3-year period.

False negatives in thyroid cytology: impact of large nodule size and follicular variant of papillary carcinoma.

Objectives/hypothesis: Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology is well established in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules. However, false-negative rates for malignancy of 3% to 10% are reported. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of nodule size and follicular variant of papillary carcinoma (FVPTC) on false-negative FNA rates in thyroid nodules and on malignancy rates in nodules with indeterminate cytology.

Implicit and explicit categorization: a tale of four species.

Categorization is essential for survival, and it is a widely studied cognitive adaptation in humans and animals. An influential neuroscience perspective differentiates in humans an explicit, rule-based categorization system from an implicit system that slowly associates response outputs to different regions of perceptual space. This perspective is being extended to study categorization in other vertebrate species, using category tasks that have a one-dimensional, rule-based solution or a two-dimensional, information-integration solution.

Risk factors for recurrent laryngeal nerve neuropraxia postthyroidectomy.

Objective: Despite preservation of the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN), transient vocal cord paralysis (VCP) occurs after 1.2% to 10.9% of thyroidectomies.

Thyroid Tubercle of Zuckerkandl: importance in thyroid surgery.

Objective: The Tubercle of Zuckerkandl (TZ), which is the remant of the lateral thyroid process, is an important anatomic structure that serves as a reliable landmark for the recurrent laryngeal nerve in thyroid surgery. Furthermore, removal of the TZ is critical for the adequate performance of a total thyroidectomy. However, there is little mention of the TZ in surgical textbooks or papers.

Pigeons' categorization may be exclusively nonanalytic.

Recent theoretical and empirical developments in human category learning have differentiated an analytic, rule-based system of category learning from a nonanalytic system that integrates information across stimulus dimensions. In the present study, the researchers applied this theoretical distinction to pigeons' category learning. Pigeons learned to categorize stimuli varying in the tilt and width of their internal striping.

Fasting insulin has a stronger association with an adverse cardiometabolic risk profile than insulin resistance: the RISC study.

Objective: Fasting insulin concentrations are often used as a surrogate measure of insulin resistance. We investigated the relative contributions of fasting insulin and insulin resistance to cardiometabolic risk and preclinical atherosclerosis.

Design And Methods: The Relationship between Insulin Sensitivity and Cardiovascular disease (RISC) cohort consists of 1326 European non-diabetic, overall healthy men and women aged 30-60 years.

Absolute and relational control of a sequential auditory discrimination by pigeons (Columba livia).

Recent evidence indicates that pigeons can readily learn visual discriminations based on both absolute and relational stimulus factors. To examine how these two types of control function in their non-dominant auditory modality, we tested four pigeons in a go/no-go sequential auditory discrimination in which both absolute and relational cues were redundantly available. In this task, sequences of different sounds created from one set of pitches were reinforced, while different sequences created from another set of pitches and any same sequences made from either set of pitches were not.