Thermal ablation has proven an effective treatment modality for certain thyroid diseases. However, its indications remain the subject of significant debate both domestically and internationally. Over recent years, several international academic organizations have issued consensus statements, position papers, and guidelines concerning thyroid thermal ablation. In China, the Chinese College of Interventionalists (CCI), in collaboration with other relevant academic organizations, released the "Expert consensus on thermal ablation for thyroid benign nodes, microcarcinoma and metastatic cervical lymph nodes (2018 edition)". This consensus statement received widespread recognition within the field and contributed significantly to the standardization of thyroid thermal ablation therapy in China. With the continuous accumulation of evidence-based medical data, the need for a more stringent and standardized approach to thyroid thermal ablation has become evident. Accordingly, the Interventional Ultrasound Committee of the CCI, in collaboration with multiple academic organizations and experts, conducted extensive discussions and multiple revisions before finalizing the "Multidisciplinary expert consensus on thermal ablation for benign thyroid diseases, low-risk thyroid carcinoma, and metastatic cervical lymph nodes (2025 edition)". This updated consensus builds on the framework of the 2018 edition, refining indications and contraindications, emphasizing standardized treatment, and outlining future directions for research and clinical applications of thyroid thermal ablation technology.
Humans ; Thyroid Neoplasms/surgery* ; Consensus ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Lymph Nodes/pathology* ; Thyroid Diseases/surgery*

Endothelial cells that form the inner layers of both blood and lymphatic vessels are important components of the vascular system and are involved in the pathogenesis of vascular and lymphatic diseases. Angiopoietin (Ang)-Tie axis in endothelial cells is the second endothelium-specific ligand-receptor signaling system necessary for embryonic cardiovascular and lymphatic development in addition to the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor pathway. The Ang-Tie axis also maintains vascular homeostasis by regulating postnatal angiogenesis, vessel remodeling, vascular permeability, and inflammation. Therefore, the dysfunction of this system leads to many vascular and lymphatic diseases. In light of the recent advances on the role of the Ang-Tie axis in vascular and lymphatic system-related diseases, this review summarizes the functions of the Ang-Tie axis in inflammation-induced vascular permeability, vascular remodeling, ocular angiogenesis, shear stress response, atherosclerosis, tumor angiogenesis, and metastasis. Moreover, this review summarizes the relevant therapeutic antibodies, recombinant proteins, and small molecular drugs associated with the Ang-Tie axis.
Angiopoietins ; Endothelial Cells/metabolism* ; Humans ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Lymphatic System/metabolism* ; Receptor, TIE-2/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

OBJECTIVE: To compare patient survival outcomes between completion hysterectomy and conventional surveillance in locally advanced adenocarcinoma of the cervix after concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT).METHODS: Patients with adenocarcinoma of the cervix after CCRT were identified in a tertiary academic center database from 2004 to 2018. Patients received completion hysterectomy or surveillance after CCRT. We compared the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) between the patients with or without adjuvant hysterectomy. Surgery features, operative complications, and pathologic characteristics were documented. Patient outcomes were also analyzed according to clinicopathologic factors.RESULTS: A total of 78 patients were assigned to completion surgery and 97 to surveillance after CCRT. The PFS was better in the surgery group compared to the CCRT only group, at 3 years the PFS rates were 68.1% and 45.2%, respectively (hazard ratio [HR]=0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.282–0.749; p=0.002). Adjuvant surgery was also associated with a higher rate of OS (HR=0.361; 95% CI=0.189–0.689; p=0.002), at 3 years, 87.9% and 67%, respectively. Tumor stage, size, lymph-vascular space invasion (LVSI), lymphadenopathy were associated with PFS but not with OS. Hysterectomy specimens revealed 64.1% (50/78) of the patients had pathologic residual tumor. Patients age less than 60, tumor size over 4 cm, stage IIB and persistent residual disease after CCRT were most likely to benefit from hysterectomy. Hysterectomy was associated with a lower rate of locoregional recurrence but did not reach statistical significance (5.13% vs. 13.5%, p=0.067).CONCLUSION: Completion hysterectomy after CCRT was associated with better survival outcome compared with the current standard of care.
Adenocarcinoma ; Cervix Uteri ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Neoplasm, Residual ; Recurrence ; Standard of Care ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

Colorectal carcinoma invading the submucosa but not the muscularis propria (pT1) represents the earliest form of clinically relevant colorectal cancer in most patients. T1 colorectal cancer with synchronous liver metastasis is considered to be rare. We report a rare case of T1 colon cancer with synchronous liver metastasis not detected by preoperative imaging study. A 54-year-old male patient presented to our department for treatment of sigmoid colon cancer following an endoscopic submucosal dissection. Histopathological examination revealed the pedunculated mass was moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma without lymphovascular invasion and the depth of submucosal invasion was 2,000 µm, the resection margin was not involved. We performed a laparoscopic anterior resection with lymph node dissection. After the 3 months, the patient's carcinoembryonic antigen level elevated from 1.4 to 7.26 ng/mL (normal level: <1.5 ng/mL) and the abdominal computed tomography and FDG-PET/CT (positron emission tomography-computed tomography) showed multiple hepatic metastases in both hepatic lobes (SUVmax: 5.6) without evidence of local recurrence or lymphadenopathy. We strongly suspected a synchronous liver metastasis not detected by imaging study as opposed to a systemic recurrence. Therefore, evaluation and follow-up protocol of T1 colorectal cancer should be changed for discovery and prediction of synchronous liver metastasis; because we cannot exclude the possibility of synchronous liver metastasis.
Adenocarcinoma ; Carcinoembryonic Antigen ; Colon ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Liver ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Recurrence ; Sigmoid Neoplasms

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disease of unknown etiology. Vocal fold paralysis secondary to sarcoidosis is extremely rare but it can develop as a result of compressive lymphadenopathy, granulomatous infiltration, and neural involvement. We report the case of a 56-year-old woman who presented with unilateral vocal fold paralysis and enlarged supraclavicular lymph nodes. Computed tomography of the neck revealed multiple, enlarged, and matted lymph nodes at the cervical level of IV. An ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy of the lymph node was performed, and a histopathological diagnosis of sarcoidosis was made by validating the presence of noncaseating granuloma. After implementation of steroid therapy, the patient exhibited immediate recovery from vocal fold paralysis. Although an extremely rare disease, sarcoidosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of vocal fold paralysis. Accurate diagnosis and prompt steroid treatment may reduce the morbidity of patients with vocal fold paralysis secondary to sarcoidosis.
Biopsy, Large-Core Needle ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Granuloma ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Middle Aged ; Neck ; Paralysis ; Rare Diseases ; Sarcoidosis ; Vocal Cords

Pharyngitis is a prevalent disease of the upper respiratory tract that requires treatment with an antibiotic. Group A streptococci (GAS) are the most frequent etiologic agents of bacterial pharyngitis. Because GAS are susceptible to penicillin, routine antibiotic susceptibility testing is not needed. Generally, patients with bacterial pharyngitis have high fever, cervical lymphadenopathy and tenderness, and tonsillar exudative discharge without symptoms of the common cold (e.g., cough, rhinorrhea, and sneezing). However, differentiating bacterial pharyngitis from viral pharyngitis based only on their clinical manifestations is problematic. Therefore, a bacterial culture or a rapid antigen detection test (RADT) is required for the diagnosis of bacterial pharyngitis. Although bacterial culture is the gold standard for diagnosis of bacterial pharyngitis, its accuracy is affected by the technical expertise of the technician, and there is a delay of 1–2 days before the results become available. In contrast, the sensitivity of RADT has increased to over 90%, making them suitable for screening purposes. The result of a RADT is available within 5–10 minutes, obviating the need for a second visit to obtain the results of culture. Use of a RADT would enable the optimal antibiotic to be administered earlier, reducing the overuse of antibiotics.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Common Cold ; Cough ; Diagnosis ; Drug Resistance ; Fever ; Humans ; Immunologic Tests ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Mass Screening ; Penicillins ; Pharyngitis ; Professional Competence ; Respiratory System

Ectopic thyroid means that thyroid tissue is present at an unusual area rather than at the orthotropic thyroid position. The most common form of ectopic thyroid is lingual thyroid, followed by thyroglossal duct cyst. Ectopic thyroid in the lateral neck area is extremely rare, with only a few case reports found in the literature review. Several studies recommended that metastasizing malignancy should be considered in lateral ectopic thyroid. Described here is a case of 60 year-old woman with lateral ectopic thyroid, which was newly found during a follow-up and was mistaken for metastatic lymphadenopathy.
Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lingual Thyroid ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Neck ; Thyroglossal Cyst ; Thyroid Dysgenesis ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Thyroid Nodule

Malakoplakia is usually found in the genitourinary tract; however, it occurs uncommonly as a chronic inflammatory disease and rarely in the head and neck area, having been reported in the literature only few times. Here, we report, with a review of the related literature, a case of malakoplakia on the posterior neck. A 76-year-old male patient visited our institution presenting a rapidly growing neck mass that had invaded the overlying skin for several weeks. The results of imaging studies strongly indicated a malignant tumor, but an accurate diagnosis was not made until after a fine needle aspiration biopsy was undertaken twice. The lesion was completely excised with an extended radical neck dissection including the overlying skin and scalene muscle upon consent of the patient. The pathological diagnosis was made with various immunohistochemical staining methods including Von Kossa, Periodic acid-Schiff-diastase, CD-68 and CD163. During the 24 months follow-up after the surgery, there was no sign of recurrence.
Aged ; Biopsy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Head ; Humans ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Malacoplakia ; Male ; Neck Dissection ; Neck ; Recurrence ; Skin

Rosai-Dorfman disease, also known as the sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy, is a rare and benign histioproliferative disease in which lymphadenopathy results from infiltration and dilatation of lymph node sinuses by large histiocytes. We experienced a case of a 59-year-old man, presenting bilateral cervical masses with pain since one month ago. Radiologically, there were multiple enlarged lymph nodes with homogenous contrast enhancement at both cervical areas. Excisional biopsy revealed that the tumor was consistent with the Rosai-Dorfman disease. The patient was treated successfully with corticosteroid. Herein, we report our experiences with literature reviews.
Biopsy ; Dilatation ; Histiocytes ; Histiocytosis ; Histiocytosis, Sinus ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Middle Aged ; Neck

Malignant melanoma can be classified as both cutaneous and mucosal types. The former comprises more than 98% of all melanomas and is related to ultraviolet exposure, whereas the latter occupies only 1.3%. More than half of mucosal melanoma arises in the head and neck region, and the sinonasal tract is also one of its predilection sites. On the other hand, the metastatic melanoma of head and neck is lower incidence than primary lesion and the unknown primary site is about two to five percent. Moreover, a lymphatic metastasis to the posterior neck is a more unusual clinical pattern. A 71-year-old man with a solitary subcutaneous posterior neck mass visited our clinic. He was confirmed with metastatic melanoma in the lymph node through excisional biopsy. However, the primary site was not found with whole radiologic examinations. We report a very rare disease entity with a brief literature review.
Aged ; Biopsy ; Hand ; Head ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Melanoma ; Neck ; Rare Diseases