Surgery in the setting of Hashimoto's thyroiditis

Abstract

Given the increased rate of associated malignancy and increased diagnostic uncertainty in patients with HT, we recommend routine preoperative thyroid antibody measurement.

Anti‐thyroid antibodies as a predictor of thyroid cancer

“…Our series also confirmed the findings from our previous study, which was performed with a different population group, demonstrating that HT patients have a greater risk of thyroid malignancy . Despite this finding, we were unable to demonstrate a direct association between raised thyroid antibodies and malignancy.…”

“…Some investigators have reported that presence of autoimmune process such as lymphocytic infiltration is associated with increase risk of papillary thyroid cancer. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] The exact mechanism by which autoimmune thyroiditis can cause thyroid malignancy is unknown.…”

“…We have previously demonstrated an association between histological lymphocytic thyroiditis and thyroid cancer . Various studies have examined the relationship between autoimmune thyroiditis and thyroid carcinoma; the association remains controversial.…”

“…6,7 We have previously demonstrated an association between histological lymphocytic thyroiditis and thyroid cancer. 8 Various studies have examined the relationship between autoimmune thyroiditis and thyroid carcinoma; the association remains controversial. Anil and Matesa-Anic et al have reported thyroid nodules in patients with HT are no more likely to be malignant than in those without HT, while other investigators have reported that presence of autoimmune process such as lymphocytic infiltration is associated with increase risk of papillary thyroid cancer.…”

Identifying Predictors of a Difficult Thyroidectomy

“…Although certain disease states such as hyperthyroidism, goiter, and thyroiditis are associated with more difficult thyroidectomies, the degree of difficulty often varies widely, and it is difficult to quantify or predict the level of difficulty of these cases preoperatively (3,(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11). Surgical risk in thyroidectomy is well studied, but there is no literature regarding the quantification of "difficulty" or an objective measure of "difficulty" for a thyroidectomy (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(12)(13)(14)(15). Difficulty scales have been developed for nephrectomy (16) and choledochotomy (17), but none exist in the area of thyroid surgery.…”