Thallium/technetium subtraction scanning for primary hyperparathyroidism: scan sensitivity and effect on operative time.

Over a ten-year period 26 patients were evaluated by the authors for elevated serum calcium and parathormone levels. All patients were clinically asymptomatic and were referred for parathyroid evaluation following a diagnosis of hypercalcemia made on routine SMA-12 studies. Twenty-four patients had positive thallium/technetium subtraction studies; two were suggestive of bilateral adenomata, one of which was confirmed at surgery.

An unusual cause of dysphagia following total laryngectomy.

A case of dysphagia following wide-field total laryngectomy with excision of the overlying skin is presented. Initial investigation as to the cause of the dysphagia proved fruitless. Mechanical compression of an adequate-sized neopharynx by the "band-like effect" created by the skin closure was hypothesized to be the etiology of the dysphagia.