Evaluation of the American college of surgeons thyroid and parathyroid ultrasound course: Results of a web-based survey.

Objectives/hypothesis: The American College of Surgeons Thyroid and Parathyroid Ultrasound Skills-Oriented Course (TPUSC) was designed to teach surgeons how to interpret and perform office-based head and neck ultrasound (HNUS). The objective of this study was to survey attendees of the TPUSC to evaluate the usefulness of the course, to track surgeon performed HNUS practice patterns, and to help identify potential roadblocks to incorporation of HNUS into a surgeon's practice.

Study Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Overcoming obstacles to setting up office-based ultrasound for evaluation of thyroid and parathyroid diseases.

Ultrasound is an integral part of the preoperative workup for patients who are being evaluated for thyroid and parathyroid surgery. It helps improve the accuracy of a fine-needle aspiration biopsy and complements other imaging modalities used for planning the extent of surgery. It also allows imaging of vital structures in relation to the thyroid and parathyroid.

Interpretation of ultrasound.

This content is designed to acquaint the clinician with some of the more common ultrasonographic manifestations of clinical conditions that the otolaryngologist is likely to encounter in a general practice. The clinician requires a thorough knowledge of head and neck anatomy to best interpret the variations from normal structures demonstrated on ultrasound. A knowledge of sonographic artifacts may assist the examiner in properly identifying the process under review.

Intraoperative parathyroid hormone testing: what have we learned?

Objectives/hypothesis: The development of rapid, sensitive assays for measuring the intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) molecule has the potential to allow the surgeon to determine the success of parathyroid surgery intraoperatively. The purpose of the study was to review our results in the context of currently held beliefs regarding the ability of the intraoperative iPTH to predict resolution of hyperparathyroidism.

Study Design: Retrospective review.