Minimal access thyroid surgery: technique and report of the first 25 cases.

Background: Minimal access thyroid surgery, using various techniques, is increasingly being reported. The present study reviews our experience with thyroid surgery using a lateral focused mini-incision approach, and assesses its safety and feasibility.

Methods: The study group comprised all patients undergoing minimal access thyroid surgery (MATS) during the period May 2002-May 2003.

Minimal access thyroid surgery: is it feasible, is it appropriate?

Background: Reports of minimal access thyroid surgery (MATS) using various techniques have recently appeared. This study examined the feasibility of MATS using either a lateral 'focused' or endoscopically assisted approach.

Methods: The study group comprised all patients undergoing minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP) during the period May 1998 to April 2002 in whom a concomitant thyroid procedure was undertaken.

Thyrothymic thyroid rests: incidence and relationship to the thyroid gland.

Background: Rests of thyroid tissue within the thyrothymic area are relatively common and might be of clinical importance. The purpose of this study is to define the incidence and anatomy of thyroid tissue located in the line of the thyrothymic ligament, referred to here as "rests."

Study Design: Prospective descriptive intraoperative evaluation of 100 consecutive thyroid or parathyroid procedures was undertaken to identify the incidence and anatomical location of thyrothymic thyroid rests.

Worldwide trends in the surgical treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism in the era of minimally invasive parathyroidectomy.

Hypothesis: Minimally invasive surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism has become an accepted part of endocrine surgical practice worldwide.

Design: Survey of members of the International Association of Endocrine Surgeons.

Setting: Clinical practice of endocrine surgeons worldwide.

Increase in presentations and procedure rates for hyperparathyroidism in Northern Sydney and New South Wales.

Objective: To examine changes in presentation of primary hyperparathyroidism and rates of parathyroidectomy in Northern Sydney (the Northern Sydney Area Heath Service) and New South Wales (NSW).

Design: Retrospective case series January 1962 - December 2001 and audit of the NSW Department of Health inpatient database (1993-1999).

Setting: University of Sydney Endocrine Surgical Unit, Royal North Shore Hospital.

Minimally invasive parathyroidectomy using the 'focused' lateral approach. II. Surgical technique.

Background: This paper describes the technique of minimally invasive parathyroidectomy. The technique is based on a thorough understanding of the anatomy of the fascial planes in neck, the surgical pathology and embryology of parathyroid glands and precise anatomical interpretation of preoperative localization studies.

Methods: Tissue trauma is minimized by using a 2.

Minimally invasive parathyroidectomy using the 'focused' lateral approach. I. Results of the first 100 consecutive cases.

Background: A feasibility study of 'focused' minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP) using a lateral approach was commenced in 1999. The aim of the present paper was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of this procedure in the first 100 consecutive patients.

Methods: This was a prospective, non-randomized case-control study.

Total thyroidectomy is now the preferred option for the surgical management of Graves' disease.

Purpose: Subtotal thyroidectomy has been advocated as the standard treatment for Graves' disease because of the possibility of avoiding thyroxine therapy as well as the assumed lower risk of complications compared to total thyroidectomy. However, the long-term results of subtotal thyroidectomy are not as good as they were previously believed to be, as evidenced by the increasing incidence of hypothyroidism. If the risk of complications from total thyroidectomy is no higher,then that procedure offers significant advantages in the surgical management of Graves' disease.