Experience of a tertiary/quaternary unit with surgery for endocrine hypertension.

Background: Endocrine hypertension is believed to be underestimated worldwide especially in the developing countries. There is a scarcity of publications on endocrine hypertension in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this study was to reflect the profile of patients with endocrine hypertension of adrenal/paraganglioma origin at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH).

Mediastinal goitre - a South African case series.

Background: Mediastinal goitres are rare and may be diagnosed late since they are likely to manifest with non-specific cardiorespiratory symptoms especially when there is no visible cervical component. The imaging modality of choice is a contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) scan of the neck and chest after incidental finding of goitre on chest X-ray indicated for a condition unrelated to goitre.

Methods: This case series aims to highlight the peculiarity of mediastinal goitre in terms of clinical presentation, surgical approach, airway challenges at anaesthesia, specific complications and final histopathological report.

Sonar guided focused parathyroidectomy under cervical block.

Background: Presentation of hyperparathyroidism varies and is highly non-specific. The automated calcium analyzer has made the diagnosis easy. Similarly, the advent of Sestamibi scan has paved the way to minimally invasive parathyroidectomy indicated for parathyroid adenoma.

Thyroid Crisis in a Patient With Burn Injury.

Thyroid crisis is an exacerbation of hyperthyroidism that results in severe systemic disturbances and could be fatal. Similarly, severe burn injury also has a hypermetabolic response as part of its presentation. When these two conditions are present concurrently, one must be cognizant that the patient requires urgent optimization of their hyperthyroid status before surgery, and continuous monitoring in an intensive care unit setting.