Surgery for Grave’s Disease

Graves’ disease (GD) is the commonest cause of hyperthyroidism followed by toxic nodular goitre. Patients presenting as goitre with clinical features of hyperthyroidism are to be carefully evaluated with biochemically with thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (fT4) and radionuclide scan (Technitium-99/Iodine-123). Those with GD also have raised thyroid receptor stimulating antibody levels. Patients are simultaneously evaluated for eye disease and managed accordingly. Initial treatment is rendering patient euthyroid using anti thyroid drugs (ATD) and if remission does not occur either continue medical therapy or proceed for definitive therapy by radioactive iodine ablation (RAI) or surgery. In last decades there is ample literature preferring surgery as preferred definitive therapy. Surgery in thyroid disease has become safer with development of many intra-operative adjuncts but it should be performed by high volume thyroid surgeon. The procedure of choice is near total or total thyroidectomy as it avoids recurrences. Patients who are not eligible or willing for surgery can be managed with RAI.

No link between season of birth and subsequent development of Graves’ disease or toxic nodular goitre. A nationwide Danish register-based study

Background Season of birth, an exogenous indicator of early life environment, has been linked with a higher risk of adverse health outcomes such as autoimmune thyroiditis, multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia later in life. Whether the development and cause of hyperthyroidism is influenced by season of birth is unclarified. We aimed, at a nationwide level, to investigate whether season of birth influences the risk of hyperthyroidism due to Graves’ disease (GD) and/or toxic nodular goitre (TNG). Method Register-based nationwide cohort study. By record-linkage between Danish health registers, 36,087 and 20,537 patients with GD and TNG, respectively, were identified. Each case was matched with four controls without thyroid disease, according to age and sex. Differences in month of birth across the year were evaluated by the Walter–Elwood test. Hazard ratios, for the risk of GD and TNG in individuals born in a certain month or season of the year, were calculated using Cox regression models. Results Neither for GD nor for TNG could we demonstrate a significant difference in birth rate across months or seasons of the year (Walter–Elwood’s test; X2 = 5.92 and X2 = 1.27, P = 0.052 and P = 0.53, respectively). Conclusion Irrespective of its cause, our findings do not support the hypothesis that season of birth is significantly related to the development of hyperthyroidism.

Cushing’s reflex secondary to neck haematoma following thyroidectomy

Neck haematoma following thyroid surgery can present with respiratory distress which is generally attributed to airway obstruction. We recently had a 63-year-old female patient who underwent total thyroidectomy for toxic nodular goitre. However, within 4 hours of surgery, she developed sudden respiratory distress which was managed by prompt evacuation of the neck haematoma. Just before the haematoma evacuation, the patient had hypertension and bradycardia along with the distress. The arterial blood gas analysis sampled at that time was normal. Intraoperatively, the tracheal framework was found rigid and non-pliable. Considering the various clinical–biochemical findings observed, we think that the cause of the respiratory distress in the index case was transiently elevated intracranial pressure, secondary to bilateral internal jugular veins' compression. We hypothesise that in many patients with immediate postoperative neck haematoma, the Cushing’s reflex would at least contribute partly, if not solely to the respiratory distress.