Thyroid Disease
Surgeons treat several
disorders of the thyroid but the most common are cancer and thyroid
nodules. A solid nodule of the thyroid can be an indication of
underlying malignancy and should be evaluated. This is usually done with
ultrasound and a fine needle aspiration. Depending on the cell type, the
thyroid lobe may or may not need to be removed. One example would be the
follicular cell type. The presence or absence of cancer can only be
diagnosed with removal. Most thyroid lobectomies can be done as an
outpatient with a 23 hour stay and return to work in less than a week.
Thyroid cancer is only
treated with surgical removal. This usually results in an excellent
prognosis. Most of the time, the whole gland will need to be removed and
this too can be done with a 23 hour stay. Return to work is usually 7-10
days and no chemotherapy is required. Replacement hormone therapy is
done daily with the ingestion of a pill.
All of our surgeons are
experienced in the surgical care of
thyroid disease.
Hyperparathyroidism
Hyperparathyroidism is
the result of abnormally increased activity of the parathyroid glands.
This is diagnosed by a high calcium level in the blood and an elevated
parathyroid hormone level. This can be the result of a single
hyperfunctoning gland (adenoma), or all 4 glands functioning abnormally.
If left untreated this can result in severe weakening of the bones,
nervousness, mental status changes, various gastrointestinal complaints
and if the calcium level gets high enough, death.
Surgical treatment
results in a cure. This can usually be done with a
minimally invasive approach
using a new technique called the Neoprobe. This allows us to identify
the offending gland prior to making an incision so that the incision is
much smaller and the amount of surgery is less. This results in a less
painful and more cosmetic result. Results are excellent.
Our surgeons perform
this new and state of the art minimally invasive approach to parathyroid
surgery.
