Insular carcinomas of the thyroid exhibit poor prognosis and long-term survival in comparison to follicular and papillary T4 carcinomas

Background Insular thyroid carcinoma was described as a tumor with aggressive behavior, and patients usually present themselves with an advanced tumor stage. Whether the insular component is an independent factor for poor prognosis remains unclear. Therefore, in the present study, we compared the survival of patients with advanced insular, follicular, and papillary thyroid cancer. Materials and methods The clinical behavior of tumors in three groups of patients with T4 thyroid carcinoma—8 patients with insular, 11 patients with follicular, and 21 patients with papillary thyroid carcinomas—was compared. Disease-free survival and disease-specific death were analyzed statistically. Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate the influence of histotype and other prognostic factors. Results At 3 years, survival was 37.5% (mean 26 months) among patients with insular thyroid carcinoma, 80% (mean 59 months) among those with follicular, and 89% (mean 126 months) among those with papillary thyroid carcinomas (p = 0.007). Disease-free survival in patients without initial distant metastasis was worst in patients with insular thyroid carcinoma (20%) compared to those with follicular (75%) and those with papillary thyroid carcinomas (71%). Conclusion Patients with advanced insular thyroid carcinoma have a poorer outcome in comparison to patients with similar advanced stage who have follicular or papillary thyroid carcinoma.     

Thyroid Artery Erosion by Esophageal Cancer: Management with Interventional Radiology

Management of upper gastrointestinal bleeding because of erosion of vessels by esophageal cancer may be challenging. We present herein the angiographic images of a 49-year-old patient who was admitted with massive bleeding from a tumor-eroded inferior thyroid artery. Attempts to control the bleeding by means of flexible endoscopy and insertion of a Sengstaken–Blakemore tube had failed. The diagnosis was impressively demonstrated by multislice computed tomography with intravenous contrast in the arterial phase and multiplanar reconstructions (computed tomography angiography) and by digital subtraction angiography. The bleeding was successfully treated with superselective catheterization and coiling of the eroded vessel.     

放射性碘对大鼠致癌效应的研究

对雄性Wisiaf大鼠腹腔1次注射碘-13l, 注入活度分别为0.59×10⁴Bq,2.37×10⁴Bq, 4.34×10⁴Bq, 8.23×10⁴Bq, 碘-125注入活度分别为3.7×10⁴Bq, 7.4×10⁴Bq, 14.8×10⁴Bq, 22.2×10⁴Bq.碘-131诱发肿痛实际注入活度在2.37×10⁴Bq以下,碘-125的为7.4×10⁴以下.诱发的肿瘤以甲状腺肿瘤为主,其次为垂体肿瘤.     

ONCOCYTES OF THE THYROID: A NEUTRAL RED DYE UPTAKE STUDY

Oncocytosis and oncocytomas have attracted attention because on the one hand there have been reports of the favourable prognosis and generally benign nature of oncocytic tumours, while on the other hand, Hurthle cell change in thyroid neoplasms have been reported to be correlated with aggressive biological behaviour and a significantly worse clinical course. Presently, there appear to be two schools of thought on the significance of oncocytosis: (i) a process where there is redifferentiation of cells with involvement in the pathogenesis of cancer; and (ii) a compensatory process for ‘functional exhaustion’ of the cell. Many aspects of oncocytosis seem unclear. In this study, transmission electron microscopy is used to demonstrate the presence of thyroid oncocytes in the hemithyroidectomy specimen of a patient with focal lymphocytic thyroiditis. Tissue sections from this specimen did not display preferential uptake of neutral red dye, a distinctive characteristic of M-phase cancer cells which was previously reported. The findings seem to suggest that oncocytes are not cells with distinctive proliferative potentials. If that were the case, then oncogenesis or cancer cell progression and oncocytosis may not be convergent processes.     

一个RET原癌基因Met918Thr突变的多发性内分泌腺瘤病Ⅱb家系报道

目的 检测一个多发性内分泌腺瘤病(MEN)Ⅱb家系的RET原癌基因突变。方法 提取患者及其父母的外周血基因组DNA，对RET原癌基因第16外显子进行聚合酶链反应(PCR)，将PCR扩增产物进行直接基因测序和限制性内切酶分析。结果 检测到患者RET原癌基因第16外显子918密码子存在ATG(Met)／ACG(Thr)点突变，而在患者父母中未检测到该突变。结论 通过对MENⅡb患者及其父母的基因筛查发现，该患者点突变是杂合子错义突变。该疾病的诊断达到了基因水平。     

甲状腺功能亢进性呕吐(附2例报告)

本文报告2例系非甲亢危象及危象前期的甲状腺功能亢进(简称甲亢)患者,临床突出的症状是:频繁而又顽固的呕吐,例1导致了Mallory-Weiss征,服他巴唑60小时后呕吐明显缓解,96小时后呕吐完全停止。例2由于呕吐误诊为胃神经官能症,服他巴唑治疗一周后呕吐停止。甲亢性呕吐国内未见报告,本文对呕吐的机制进行了分析探讨。     

416例甲状腺肿瘤临床病理分析

目的了解本地区甲状腺肿瘤的发病情况，探讨甲状腺肿瘤的诊断与鉴别诊断6方法对416例甲状腺肿瘤病理资料进行回顾性分析。结果甲状腺肿瘤以良性多见，良恶性之比为8．2：1。各类型肿瘤均以女性明显多于男性，男女之比为1：5．4，好发年龄为21～50岁，肿瘤发生于甲状腺右侧多见。结论本组甲状腺肿瘤的发生率、好发年龄、性别差异、良恶之比与文献报道基本一致。乳头状腺瘤与乳头状癌的鉴别有一定难度，对可疑标本要多处取材，连续切片，仔细观察，找出其特征，提高诊断的准确性。     

Prevalence of autoimmune thyroid disorders in a Spanish multiple sclerosis cohort

The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of thyroid autoimmune disorders in a cohort of untreated multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and compare it with a stratified sample of an adult population. We prospectively studied 93 untreated MS patients. The control group included 401 healthy subjects selected by stratified sampling in a non-iodine-deficient area. Antithyroid antibodies (ATA) (antibodies against peroxidase and thyroglobulin) were considered positive at titres ≥149 IU/ml. Antibodies were positive in 11 MS patients (11.8%; 95% CI 5.3–18.4%). This prevalence was five times higher ( P  = 0.0001) when compared with that in the control population. We found six cases with subclinical hypothyroidism (6.45%; 95% CI 11.4–1.5) in contrast to 2.24% in the control group. Comparing MS with positive and negative ATA, there was a non-significant, slightly higher frequency of low Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score in the ATA-positive group (81% vs. 73.2%). One year after start of interferon (IFN) treatment, only one patient developed subclinical thyroid dysfunction. MS patients have a higher prevalence of ATA compared with the general population. An initial ATA and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) determination is recommended in all MS patients. A periodic assessment of thyroid function during IFN treatment only seems to be justified in those cases where positive ATA or dysfunction is present before treatment.