Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is one of the most malignant human neoplasms and has a grave prognosis. This study gives an update on our experience with this unusual neoplasm, with specific focus on the response to various treatment modalities. Forty-seven patients with histologically proven ATCs were enrolled (19 men, 28 women; mean age, 62.8 years). This number represents 1.5% among a total of 3, 088 thyroid cancers treated between 1977 and 2002. The mean tumor diameter was 8.8 cm, and 22 patients had distant metastasis. Extrathyroidal extension was seen in 26 (89.7%) of the cases that underwent surgery. Treatment modalities adopted could be classified into 5 groups: Group 1, biopsy only; Group 2, biopsy and chemoradiotherapy; Group 3, debulking only; Goup 4, debulking and chemoradiotherapy; Group 5, complete excision and chemoradiotherapy. Survival was calculated from the time of diagnosis, and comparisons of survival were done by log-rank analysis. The mean survival was 4.3 months (range, 1.0-21 months). The mean survival based on treatment modalities were as follows: Group 1 (n = 10), 2.1 months, Group 2 (n = 8) ; 3.6 months; Group 3 (n = 7), 3.0 months; Group 4 (n = 14), 3.5 months, Group 5 (n = 8), 9.4 months. There was no significant difference in survival time between the various types of treatment modalities. Even though a small improvement in survival was observed with complete excision and aggressive multimodality therapy, nearly all ATCs remain unresponsive to ongoing treatment modalities and as such, present a therapeutic dilemma. A more effective treatment regimen should be sought in order to improve survival.
Treatment Outcome ; Thyroid Neoplasms/mortality/surgery/*therapy ; Survival Analysis ; Radiotherapy, Adjuvant ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Humans ; Female ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Carcinoma/mortality/surgery/*therapy ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aged ; Adult

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to investigate the effect of delivery nursing care using essential oils on labor stress response, labor anxiety and postpartum status anxiety for primipara. METHODS: This study used nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The subjects of this experiment consisted of forty eight primipara with single gestation, full term, & uncomplicated pregnancies. Twenty four primipra were in the experimental and control group each. Their mean age was 27.9 years old, their mean gestation period 279.9 days. As a treatment, delivery nursing care using essential oils was applied by nurses. Data collected epinephrine, norepinephrine, anxiety during labor. In the 24 hours after birth, the data for the postpartum mother's status anxiety was collected. Data was analyzed by t-test, repeated measures ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U test, & Wilcoxon signed ranks test with SPSS Program. RESULTS: Plasma epinephrine, norepinephrine were significantly low in the experimental group (P=0.001, P=0.033, respectively). There was no significant difference between the two groups in anxiety during labor and postpartum mother's status anxiety. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that delivery nursing care using essential oils could be effective in decreasing plasma epinephrine, norepinephrine. But, that could not be verified in decreasing mother's anxiety.
Stress/*prevention & control ; Pregnancy ; Postpartum Period/*psychology ; Oils, Volatile/*therapeutic use ; Norepinephrine/blood ; Labor, Obstetric/*psychology ; Humans ; Female ; Epinephrine/blood ; Delivery, Obstetric/*nursing ; *Aromatherapy ; Anxiety/*prevention & control ; Adult

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare the surgical completeness and outcome of total thyroidectomy in two patient groups: One treated by harmonic scalpel (HS) and one by conventional total thyroidectomy (CT). METHODS: Between March 2006 and December 2007, 104 patients had total thyroidectomy by HS and 108 patients underwent CT. We analyzed clinicopathological characteristics and stimulated serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroglobulin (Tg), and anti-Tg antibodies at the time of ablation for both groups. RESULTS: Compared with the CT group, the HS group had shorter operating time and hospital stays and reduced postoperative drainage. At postsurgical ablation, mean serum TSH was 80.47 +/- 21.77 mU/L in the HS group and 69.74 +/- 21.17 mU/L in the CT group, with significant between-group differences (P < 0.001). Mean serum Tg levels after TSH stimulation were 1.57 +/- 3.17 and 3.95 +/- 10.14 ng/mL in the HS and CT groups, respectively, with significant between-group differences (P = 0.028). CONCLUSION: Total thyroidectomy with an HS is a relatively safe and effective technique for use in patients with PTC. The HS provides surgical completeness and has a beneficial effect on successful ablation.
Antibodies ; Carcinoma ; Drainage ; Factor IX ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Thyroglobulin ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Thyroidectomy ; Thyrotropin

PURPOSE: Central compartment reoperation for recurrent thyroid carcinoma is challenging to surgeons due to the scar tissues and adhesions and the distortion of the normal anatomic relationships. This study was carried out to investigate the central neck recurrence patterns and the surgical morbidity of reoperation for patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma. METHODS: The study population was comprised 68 papillary thyroid carcinoma patients (15 males and 53 females, median age: 50.8 years [range: 12~78 years]) who underwent reoperation for recurrent tumors in the central compartment of the neck between January 1999 and June 2007. All of the patients had undergone prior total thyroidectomy. RESULTS: Of the 68 patients, 21 recurrences occurred in the proper thyroid tissue of the thyroid bed, 43 in the central neck nodes and 4 in a combination of the central nodes and proper thyroid tissue. The common recurrent site from the proper thyroid tissue were at the berry ligaments and at the level of the upper one-third of the recurrent laryngeal nerves, while the common nodal recurrence sites were the lower-most portion of the paratracheal nodes and the right paraesophageal nodes (the lymph nodes posterior to the right recurrent laryngeal nerve). Eleven cases of transient hypocalcemia (17.5%, 11/63) and 3 cases of permanent hypocalcemia (4.3%, 3/63) were noted after reoperation. Recurrent laryngeal nerve injury occurred in 5 patients (8.1%, 5/62), but three of them were intentionally resected with the recurrent cancers. CONCLUSION: Reoperation for central neck recurrence of papillary thyroid carcinoma is associated with a higher complication rate. Meticulous surgical dissection of the central compartment based on the recurrent patterns is important to reduce injury to the recurrent laryngeal nerves and parathyroid glands.
Carcinoma ; Cicatrix ; Female ; Fruit ; Humans ; Hypocalcemia ; Intention ; Ligaments ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Neck ; Recurrence ; Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve ; Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Injuries ; Reoperation ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms

PURPOSE: Follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) is a relatively rare form of thyroid carcinoma that often presents at a more advanced stage of disease with a higher incidence of distant metastases because of its propensity for vascular invasion. However, FTC and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) have similar prognoses when they are matched for age and stage. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the useful prognostic factors and determine the optimal management of FTC. METHODS: This study was conducted on 216 patients with FTC who underwent thyroidectomy at our institutions between April 1986 and August 2006. The patients included 174 women and 42 men with a mean age of 41 (4~87) years, and patients underwent follow-up evaluation for a mean period of 114 (6~253) months. The potential risk factors for treatment outcome were calculated using multivariate analysis, and the prognostic accuracy of UICC/AJCC pTNM staging, AMES, AGES, MACIS, and Degroot classification for predicting survival were compared. RESULTS: During the follow-up period, 13 (6.0%) patients developed locoregional recurrences and 8 patients (3.7%) showed distant metastases. In addition, cause specific mortality was seen in 8 patients (3.7%). The overall survival and cause-specific survival (CSS) rates at 10 years were 95.4% and 89.3%, respectively, and these cases were accurately predicted by the AMES and pTNM staging systems. The Cox proportional hazards revealed that gender (P=0.015), angioinvasion (P=0.013), invasion to adjacent structure (P=0.003), widely invasive carcinoma (P=0.028), and distant metastases at the time of presentation (P<0.001) were independent prognostic factors for survival. CONCLUSION: The extent of surgery in cases of FTC should be individualized based on the clinicopathologic findings; Conservative surgery should be adequate for cases of minimally invasive FTC without angioinvasion, however total or near-total thyroidectomy should be conducted in cases of widely invasive and minimally invasive FTC with angioinvasion.
Adenocarcinoma, Follicular ; Carcinoma ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Risk Factors ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Thyroidectomy ; Treatment Outcome

PURPOSE: In case of well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma, a mediastinal lymph node metastasis is extremely rare, but can be life threatening due to its proximity to the vital organs. The consequence of radical extirpation must be balanced against the issues of tumor control, survival outcomes, functional morbidity, and the sequelae of an excessive surgical resection. The aim of this study was to clarify the clinicopathological characteristics, treatment and outcomes of patients with mediastinal lymph node metastasis in differentiated thyroid carcinoma. METHODS: Nineteen consecutive differentiated thyroid carcinoma patients with a mediastinal lymph node metastasis between June 1998 and Feb. 2004 were included in this study. All the patients underwent a trans-sternal mediastinal lymph node dissection in addition to thyroid cancer surgery. The median follow-up was 40.7 months (range, 18~97). RESULTS: The mean age was 49 years (range 31~72 years) with a male-to-female ratio of 8: 11. The surgical treatment included 11 cases of an upper mediastinal lymph nodes dissection via a partial sternotomy and 7 cases of a whole mediastinal lymph nodes dissection via a total longitudinal sternotomy. In 6 cases, the combined resection of the involved organ was added. Major postoperative complications occurred in two patients, one with leakage from a tracheoesophageal fistula and the other with a pulmonary embolism. During the follow-up period, local recurrences in the lateral cervical nodes were observed in 5 cases. The 5 year overall survival and 5 year disease-free survival were 90.5% and 63.6%, respectively. There was only one surgical mortality. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the prognosis for mediastinal lymph node metastasis in differentiated thyroid carcinoma can be improved by an aggressive mediastinal node dissection and the appropriate thyroid cancer surgery.
Disease-Free Survival ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes* ; Mortality ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Postoperative Complications ; Prognosis ; Pulmonary Embolism ; Recurrence ; Sternotomy ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Tracheoesophageal Fistula

The aim of this study was to investigate the complications following surgical treatment of thyroid cancer and the association between the extent of surgery and complication rates. A total of 2,636 patients who underwent surgery due to thyroid cancer were retrospectively reviewed to identify surgical complications. Complication rates were assessed according to the extent of surgery, which was classified as follows; less-than-total thyroidectomy with central compartment node dissection (CCND) (Group I, n=636), total thyroidectomy with CCND (Group II, n=1,390), total thyroidectomy plus ipsilateral neck dissection (Group III, n=513), and total thyroidectomy plus bilateral neck dissection (Group IV, n=97). The most common surgical complication was symptomatic hypoparathyroidism, of which 28.4% of cases were transient and 0.3% permanent. The other surgical complications included vocal cord palsy (0.7% transient, and 0.2% permanent), hematoma (0.5%), seroma (4.7%), chyle fistula (1.8%), and Horner's syndrome (0.2%). The complication rates increased significantly with increasing the extent of surgery from Group I to Group IV. The more extensive surgery makes more complications, such as hypoparathyroidism, seroma, and others.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Hypoparathyroidism/etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Paralysis/etiology ; Parathyroid Glands/surgery ; *Postoperative Complications ; Retrospective Studies ; Seroma/etiology ; Thyroid Neoplasms/*complications/pathology/*surgery

PURPOSE: The clinical importance of papillary microcarcinoma (PTMC) is debatable. Because PTMC is being diagnosed with increasing frequency, it is important to describe the clinical and histological characteristics that confer aggressive behavior to this cancer. This study was carried out to evaluate the clinical and histological characteristics of PTMC and to determine an appropriate treatment strategy for such cases. METHODS: From Jan. 2000 to Dec. 2005, 1,255 patients with small papillary carcinoma, which measured less than 2.0 cm in its greater dimension, underwent total thyroidectomy at our institution. Among these patients, 633 (50.4%) had a thyorid carcinoma less than or equal to 1 cm in diameter (Group A). The clinicopathologic features and treatment outcome of these patients were evaluated and compared with the remaining 622 cases (49.6%) (Group B). RESULTS: For the patients with PTMC (Group A), there were 70 men and 563 women with a median age of 44 years (range; 12~86). During a mean follow-up of 32.5+/-18.2 months, 6 patients (0.9%) developed locoregional recurrences and 3 patients (0.5%) showed distant metastases. There was no disease-related mortality in both groups. The disease of group B was more likely to show extracapsular invasion (P < 0.001), invasion to adjacent structures (P < 0.001), and lateral neck node metastasis (P < 0.001) than that of group A. However, there were no significant differences in multifocality (P=0.189), bilaterality (P=0.203), the locoregional recurrence rate (P=0.065) and the distant meta-stasis rate (P=0.325) between the two groups. On multivariate analysis, locoregional recurrent disease was associated with central lymph node metastases (P=0.033) and lateral neck node metastases (P=0.022). CONCLUSION: Despite PTMC having less aggressive clinicopathologic parameters as compared with clinical cancer (>1 cm), some PTMCs show aggressive clinical behavior and locoregional recurrence. The treatment of PTMC should be individualized based on its tumor risk profiles and the clinical presentations. Moreover, performing close follow-up is essential, especially for those patients who present with cervicolateral lymph node metastases.
Carcinoma, Papillary ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Mortality ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neck ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Recurrence ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroidectomy ; Treatment Outcome

The clinical behaviors and treatment outcomes of thyroid carcinomas in patients with Graves' disease is a matter of controversy. This study aimed to identify the clinicopathologic features, treatment outcome, and the indicators for predicting recurrence, and to suggest the optimal extent of surgery in these patients. We retrospectively analyzed data of 58 patients who underwent surgical treatment for differentiated thyroid cancer and concurrent Graves' disease. The follow-up period ranged from 23 to 260 months (mean+/-standard devuation, 116.8+/-54.0). In our series, the mean age was 40.8+/-12.7 yr (range, 15-70), with a male-to-female ratio of 1: 6.25. The mean tumor size was 13+/-9 mm (range, 3-62). The surgical methods included 19 cases of total thyroidectomy, 38 cases of subtotal thyroidectomy, and 1 case of completion total thyroidectomy. Locoregional recurrence occurred in four patients (6.9%). The 10-yr overall survival and disease-free survival of patients were 95.8% and 91.1%, respectively. Age over 45 yr (p=0.031), tumor size over 10 mm (p=0.049), multiplicity (p=0.007), extracapsular invasion (p=0.021), and clinical cancer (p=0.035) were significantly more prevalent in patients with locoregional recurrence than in those without recurrence. We recommend that Graves' disease patients should undergo regular ultrasonography screening for early detection of thyroid carcinoma. We also suggest that the choice of extent of surgery should depend on the diagnostic timing (clinical or incidental) and factors for predicting recurrence.
Adult ; Comorbidity ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Graves Disease/*complications/*therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Recurrence ; Thyroid Neoplasms/*complications/*therapy ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome

PURPOSE: Distant metastases, as the initial sign of a differentiated thyroid carcinoma, are extremely rare. The clinical characteristics for such cases remain to be established. This study was performed to characterize the clinical presentation, treatments, and outcome in such patients. METHODS: Between January 1986 and February 2005, of 4,525 differentiated thyroid cancer patients, 18 presented with distant metastases as the initial sign (0.4%). These comprised of 6 men and 12 women, with a median age of 49 years (range 9~66). Of the 18 patients, 8 (44.4%), 7 (38.9%), and 3 (16.7%) disclosed symptoms from lung, bone, and brain (16.7%) metastases, respectively. The median follow-up was 92 months, ranging from 18 to 198. RESULTS: The symptoms included cough and sputum (n=5), hemoptysis (n=2) and a lung mass (n=1) from lung metastases, back pain (n=3), a palpable mass (n=2) and a pathologic fracture (n=2) from bone metastases, as well as a headache with nausea (n=3) in all cases with brain metastases. The sites of metastases were the lung only in 7 (38.9%), bone only in 7 (38.9%) and multi-organ in 4 (22.2%). The histological diagnoses were a papillary carcinoma in 10 and a follicular carcinoma in 8. All patients underwent a total thyroidectomy followed by therapeutic radio-iodine therapy (RAI) and TSH suppressive treatment. For the metastatic lesions, aggressive treatment modalities, including surgical resection (n=9), external beam radiation (n=11), gamma-knife surgery (n=1) and a combination of these, were performed. The 10 year overall and disease-free survivals were 91.7 and 51.4%, respectively. There was only one disease-related death (1.6%). Tumor multiplicity (p=0.023) and multi-organ metastasis (p=0.009) were significant predictors of a poor prognosis. CONCLUSION: Clinical symptoms, history, physical examination, imaging studies and histological confirmation of distant metastatic lesions are important in the initial diagnostic approach. Even though distant metastasis presented as the initial sign, a 10-year disease-free survival rate of 50% was obtained. Radical resection of primary and metastatic lesions combined with high dose RAI treatment and/or external irradiation lead to long-term survival.
Back Pain ; Brain ; Carcinoma, Papillary ; Cough ; Diagnosis ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Fractures, Spontaneous ; Headache ; Hemoptysis ; Humans ; Lung ; Male ; Nausea ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Physical Examination ; Prognosis ; Sputum ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Thyroidectomy