Efficacy and safety of preoperative preparation with Lugol's iodine solution in euthyroid patients with Graves' disease (LIGRADIS Trial): Study protocol for a multicenter randomized trial.

Background: Currently, both the American Thyroid Association and the European Thyroid Association recommend preoperative preparation with Lugol's Solution (LS) for patients undergoing thyroidectomy for Graves' Disease (GD), but their recommendations are based on low-quality evidence. The LIGRADIS trial aims to provide evidence either to support or refute the systematic use of LS in euthyroid patients undergoing thyroidectomy for GD.

Methods: A multicenter randomized controlled trial will be performed.

Concordance study between one-step nucleic acid amplification and morphologic techniques to detect lymph node metastasis in papillary carcinoma of the thyroid.

Tumor resection in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is often accompanied by lymph node (LN) removal of the central and lateral cervical compartments. One-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA) is a polymerase chain reaction-based technique that quantifies cytokeratin 19 (CK19) messenger RNA copies. Our aim is to assess the value of OSNA in detection of LN metastases in PTC, in comparison with imprints and microscopic analysis of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue.

Is there a case for selective, rather than routine, preoperative laryngoscopy in thyroid surgery?

Background: According to some authors, routine preoperative laryngoscopy should be the standard of care in all patients undergoing thyroid surgery. The rationale for this approach is (I) the risk that a patient has a preoperative vocal cord palsy (VCP) without symptoms; (II) the presence of VCP preoperatively is suggestive of invasive malignancy; (III) it is relevant for the use of intraoperative nerve monitoring; and (IV) surgical strategy may be better defined if a paralysed vocal cord is detected preoperatively.

Methods: This is a review of studies of patients who underwent routine preoperative laryngoscopy to anticipate preoperative VCP and that evaluated related risk factors, including previous surgery, voice function complaints, and a diagnosis of malignancy.

Morbidity following thyroid surgery: does surgeon volume matter?

Purpose: The aim of our study was to analyze the relationship between surgeon volume and morbidity in patients operated on by surgeons with endocrine specialization (EndS group) and those operated on by general surgeons (GenS group) in a single tertiary institution.

Methods: We present the results of a prospective cohort study of all patients undergoing thyroid surgery in our institution between January 2008 and January 2010, all of whom attended for follow-up for at least 12 months. We assessed pre- and postoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) function by laryngoscopy.