Locally advanced thyroid cancer (LATC) can seriously invade the important organs of the neck, such as the trachea, esophagus and carotid artery, and has a poor prognosis. It is one of the leading causes of death in thyroid cancer. Diagnosis and treatment for LATC often involve multidisciplinary fields, the difficulty and risk of surgical are very high, and high-quality multidisciplinary comprehensive diagnosis and treatment can obtain a better prognosis. In order to realize the proceduralization, standardization and normalization of the LATC diagnosis and treatment model, the seven-step method for diagnosis and treatment of LATC is summarized by our center.

Objective:To summarize the technical difficulties, key points and cosmetic effects of Ti-loop patch application in breast shaping of immediate reconstruction with omental flap transplantation after mastectomy.Methods:The clinical data of 90 cases with breast cancer who underwent immediate breast reconstruction by using laparoscopically harvested omental flap alone or combined with prosthesis after nipple and areola complex sparing mastectomy from May. 2020 to Jan. 2023 in Hunan Cancer Hospital was retrospectively analyzed. All patients were female between 16 and 55 years old with the average age of 42. Their courses of the disease range from 5 to 26 months with the mean of 15.5 months. These patients received mastectomy with conservation of nipple and areola, and then the greater omentum with right pedicle were harvested laparoscopically. Ti-loop patch was used to hang and fix the greater omentum as a support. 27 patients accepted immediate breast reconstruction with pedicled greater omentum alone, while 63 subjects with greater omentum and gel prosthesis. Among them, contralateral breast contraction and lift was operated on 9 cases.Results:All the pedicled greater omentum successfully survived, and wound surfaces of donor and recipient sites healed at stage I. Axillary lymph node dissection and postoperative radiotherapy were performed on 14 patients with positive pathological examination of sentinel lymph nodes. Breasts of two patients were found to be smaller after postoperative radiotherapy. All 90 subjects were followed up for 5 to 32 months, and the average follow-up period was 16.4 months. The reconstructed breasts were good in shape and tactile sensation. Only punctate scars were observed in donor sites of abdomen. All patients recovered with no upper limb lymphedema, no short and long term complications in abdomen, and only one patient had papillary recurrence without distant metastasis.Conclusions:The omental flap is hard to be sutured and shaped in the reconstructed breast, while easily to be avulsed and form hematoma. The application of Ti-loop patch, which could semi-surround and wrap the greater omentum, and suspend and fix it on the chest wall in upper pole of the breast as a support, can significantly improve the reconstruction effect.

Traditional open thyroid surgery often leaves a scar on the neck,which can affect cosmetic outcomes.Therefore,various endoscopic thyroidectomy approaches via extra-cervical approaches have been developed.However,due to the unique anatomical characteristics of the neck and limitations of endoscopic instruments,conventional endoscopic techniques have certain drawbacks.Robot-assisted endoscopic thyroid surgery can help overcome these limitations.At present,robotic surgical systems remain expensive and the associated surgical costs are high,limiting their widespread adoption.Most surgeons are still relatively unfamiliar with the technique.Nevertheless,with ongoing technological advancements and cost reductions,robot-assisted surgery holds great promise for broader application.Based on years of large-scale experience in endoscopic thyroid surgery at our center,and drawing upon both domestic and international experiences with robotic thyroidectomy,this paper summarizes and proposes a seven-step protocol for robot-assisted endoscopic thyroidectomy via the bilateral axillo-breast approach,aiming to provide a practical reference for the clinical adoption of this technique.

Traditional open thyroid surgery often leaves a scar on the neck,which can affect cosmetic outcomes.Therefore,various endoscopic thyroidectomy approaches via extra-cervical approaches have been developed.However,due to the unique anatomical characteristics of the neck and limitations of endoscopic instruments,conventional endoscopic techniques have certain drawbacks.Robot-assisted endoscopic thyroid surgery can help overcome these limitations.At present,robotic surgical systems remain expensive and the associated surgical costs are high,limiting their widespread adoption.Most surgeons are still relatively unfamiliar with the technique.Nevertheless,with ongoing technological advancements and cost reductions,robot-assisted surgery holds great promise for broader application.Based on years of large-scale experience in endoscopic thyroid surgery at our center,and drawing upon both domestic and international experiences with robotic thyroidectomy,this paper summarizes and proposes a seven-step protocol for robot-assisted endoscopic thyroidectomy via the bilateral axillo-breast approach,aiming to provide a practical reference for the clinical adoption of this technique.

Locally advanced thyroid cancer (LATC) can seriously invade the important organs of the neck, such as the trachea, esophagus and carotid artery, and has a poor prognosis. It is one of the leading causes of death in thyroid cancer. Diagnosis and treatment for LATC often involve multidisciplinary fields, the difficulty and risk of surgical are very high, and high-quality multidisciplinary comprehensive diagnosis and treatment can obtain a better prognosis. In order to realize the proceduralization, standardization and normalization of the LATC diagnosis and treatment model, the seven-step method for diagnosis and treatment of LATC is summarized by our center.

Objective:To summarize the technical difficulties, key points and cosmetic effects of Ti-loop patch application in breast shaping of immediate reconstruction with omental flap transplantation after mastectomy.Methods:The clinical data of 90 cases with breast cancer who underwent immediate breast reconstruction by using laparoscopically harvested omental flap alone or combined with prosthesis after nipple and areola complex sparing mastectomy from May. 2020 to Jan. 2023 in Hunan Cancer Hospital was retrospectively analyzed. All patients were female between 16 and 55 years old with the average age of 42. Their courses of the disease range from 5 to 26 months with the mean of 15.5 months. These patients received mastectomy with conservation of nipple and areola, and then the greater omentum with right pedicle were harvested laparoscopically. Ti-loop patch was used to hang and fix the greater omentum as a support. 27 patients accepted immediate breast reconstruction with pedicled greater omentum alone, while 63 subjects with greater omentum and gel prosthesis. Among them, contralateral breast contraction and lift was operated on 9 cases.Results:All the pedicled greater omentum successfully survived, and wound surfaces of donor and recipient sites healed at stage I. Axillary lymph node dissection and postoperative radiotherapy were performed on 14 patients with positive pathological examination of sentinel lymph nodes. Breasts of two patients were found to be smaller after postoperative radiotherapy. All 90 subjects were followed up for 5 to 32 months, and the average follow-up period was 16.4 months. The reconstructed breasts were good in shape and tactile sensation. Only punctate scars were observed in donor sites of abdomen. All patients recovered with no upper limb lymphedema, no short and long term complications in abdomen, and only one patient had papillary recurrence without distant metastasis.Conclusions:The omental flap is hard to be sutured and shaped in the reconstructed breast, while easily to be avulsed and form hematoma. The application of Ti-loop patch, which could semi-surround and wrap the greater omentum, and suspend and fix it on the chest wall in upper pole of the breast as a support, can significantly improve the reconstruction effect.

The incidence of thyroid cancer has increased in recent years. The desire for aesthetics and quality of life, combined with the development of energy devices and robotics make surgeons introduction of minimally invasive procedures both more refined and difficult techniques, resulting less painful and better aesthetic results. Thyroidectomy has been expanded to include minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy, multi-approach to endoscopic thyroidectomy, thermal ablation, chemical ablation and robot-assisted thyroidectomy.

The occurrence and progression of thyroid cancer are related to a series of molecular changes and the activation of signaling pathways, which is the basis of targeted therapy. For inoperable locally advanced, metastatic and refractory thyroid cancer, especially anaplastic thyroid cancer, the efficacy of targeted therapies, particularly tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) , has been demonstrated in clinical trials. TKIs can relieve clinical symptoms, improve patients’quality of life, prolong the progress free survival, and even create opportunities for radical operation or reoperation. This article reviews and summarizes the key molecular events in tumorigenesis and progression of thyroid cancer, and analyzes the results of clinical studies on the efficacy and safety of different TKIs in refractory advanced thyroid cancer, in order to provide reference and assistance for individualized targeted therapy of patients.

Hypercalcemic crisis (HC) is a rare but critical electrolyte disorder, which may result in death if rapid correct management is not given due to the injury of the neurologic, cardiovascular and renal systems. Severe primary hyperthyroidism (PHPT) is listed as the most common cause of hypercalcemic crisis. Prompt surgical removal of the parathyroid glands is the most effective cure for HC. Nevertheless, hypercalcemic crisis after a successful parathyroidectomy is infrequent. Now, we report a case admitted to the Department of General Surgery of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People’s Hospital about a successful therapy of hypercalcemic crisis postparathyroidectomy in Sep. 2019, aiming to remind clinicians of the individualized program of calcium supplement after surgery of hyperparathyroidism and emphasize the value of renal dialysis in HC.

One of the major risks of total thyroidectomy, especially with central cervical lymph node dissection, is unintentional resection and devascularization of the parathyroid gland (PG) , which leads to temporary or permanent hypoparathyroidism (hypoPT) and causes hypocalcemia. Nowadays postoperative hypoPT is one of the most troubling complications for both surgeons and patients all around the world. In addition, primary or renal hypoPT requires the removal of pathological PG (s) . However, rapid identification of PGs, particularly ectopic or excess PG, could be sometimes difficult. Currently, the identification and protection of PGs mainly depend on the experience of surgeons and auxiliary methods such as fast frozen pathology, the negative imaging through nano-carbon, or PTH test strip, still have some limitations. As initial researches show, near-infrared autofluorescence imaging and optical coherence tomography can accurately perform the real-time identification of PGs; indocyanine green fluorescence or laser speckle contrast imaging can help to judge the activity of PGs intraoperatively. The basic principle, clinical application and prospect of these optical techniques in thyroid and parathyroid surgery will be reviewed in our article.