Background:Permanent hypocalcaemia following thyroidectomy causes considerable morbidity. This prospective observational study aims to define the factors likely to predict hypocalcaemia following total thyroidectomy.Materials and Methods:Patients who were subjected to total thyroidectomy during January 2005 to December 2009 were followed up for a minimum period of 1 year. Efficacy of an intraoperative parathyroid hormone assay to predict hypocalcaemia was validated.Results:Overall incidence of hypocalcaemia was 23.6% (n = 190) and that of permanent hypocalcaemia was 1.61% (n = 13). Onset was delayed up to 3rd postoperative day in 13 patients. Hypocalcaemia was significantly associated with thyroidectomy for Grave's Disease (P = 0.001), Hashimoto's thyroiditis (P = 0.003), and with incidental parathyroidectomy (P = 0.006). The intraoperative assay of parathyroid hormone showed low sensitivity (0.5) and satisfactory specificity (0.9) in predicting hypocalcemia.Conclusion:Hypocalcemia could manifest late in the immediate postoperative period and this may explain latent hypocalcemia. High incidence of hypocalcaemia noted in Grave's Disease could be due to the autoimmunity since same feature was noted associated with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and the incidence of hypocalcaemia was not high in the subgroup with toxic nodular goiter. The incidence of hypocalcemia was not affected by age or sex.

Background Clinical complexity is increasingly prevalent among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The ‘Atrial fibrillation Better Care’ (ABC) pathway approach has been proposed to streamline a more holistic and integrated approach to AF care; however, there are limited data on its usefulness among clinically complex patients. We aim to determine the impact of ABC pathway in a contemporary cohort of clinically complex AF patients. Methods From the ESC-EHRA EORP-AF General Long-Term Registry, we analysed clinically complex AF patients, defined as the presence of frailty, multimorbidity and/or polypharmacy. A K-medoids cluster analysis was performed to identify different groups of clinical complexity. The impact of an ABC-adherent approach on major outcomes was analysed through Cox-regression analyses and delay of event (DoE) analyses. Results Among 9966 AF patients included, 8289 (83.1%) were clinically complex. Adherence to the ABC pathway in the clinically complex group reduced the risk of all-cause death (adjusted HR [aHR]: 0.72, 95%CI 0.58–0.91), major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs; aHR: 0.68, 95%CI 0.52–0.87) and composite outcome (aHR: 0.70, 95%CI: 0.58–0.85). Adherence to the ABC pathway was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of death (aHR: 0.74, 95%CI 0.56–0.98) and composite outcome (aHR: 0.76, 95%CI 0.60–0.96) also in the high-complexity cluster; similar trends were observed for MACEs. In DoE analyses, an ABC-adherent approach resulted in significant gains in event-free survival for all the outcomes investigated in clinically complex patients. Based on absolute risk reduction at 1 year of follow-up, the number needed to treat for ABC pathway adherence was 24 for all-cause death, 31 for MACEs and 20 for the composite outcome. Conclusions An ABC-adherent approach reduces the risk of major outcomes in clinically complex AF patients. Ensuring adherence to the ABC pathway is essential to improve clinical outcomes among clinically complex AF patients.

Aims The 4S-AF classification scheme comprises of four domains: stroke risk (St), symptoms (Sy), severity of atrial fibrillation (AF) burden (Sb), and substrate (Su). We sought to examine the implementation of the 4S-AF scheme in the EORP-AF General Long-Term Registry and compare outcomes in AF patients according to the 4S-AF-led decision-making process. Methods and results  Atrial fibrillation patients from 250 centres across 27 European countries were included. A 4S-AF score was calculated as the sum of each domain with a maximum score of 9. Of 6321 patients, 8.4% had low (St), 47.5% EHRA I (Sy), 40.5% newly diagnosed or paroxysmal AF (Sb), and 5.1% no cardiovascular risk factors or left atrial enlargement (Su). Median follow-up was 24 months. Using multivariable Cox regression analysis, independent predictors of all-cause mortality were (St) [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 8.21, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.60–25.9], (Sb) (aHR 1.21, 95% CI: 1.08–1.35), and (Su) (aHR 1.27, 95% CI: 1.14–1.41). For CV mortality and any thromboembolic event, only (Su) (aHR 1.73, 95% CI: 1.45–2.06) and (Sy) (aHR 1.29, 95% CI: 1.00–1.66) were statistically significant, respectively. None of the domains were independently linked to ischaemic stroke or major bleeding. Higher 4S-AF score was related to a significant increase in all-cause mortality, CV mortality, any thromboembolic event, and ischaemic stroke but not major bleeding. Treatment of all 4S-AF domains was associated with an independent decrease in all-cause mortality (aHR 0.71, 95% CI: 0.55–0.92). For each 4S-AF domain left untreated, the risk of all-cause mortality increased substantially (aHR 1.35, 95% CI: 1.16–1.56). Conclusion  Implementation of the novel 4S-AF scheme is feasible, and treatment decisions based on this scheme improve mortality rates in AF.

Introduction Thyroidectomy is now a less popular therapeutic option for Graves' disease. The frequency of thyroid nodule and the cancer risk of these nodules accompanying Graves' disease are controversial. The outcome of thyroid cancers coexisting with Graves' disease is debated. Study Design Designed as retrospective case control study of papillary thyroid cancers associated with Graves' disease and those with euthyroid background. Pathological characteristics and outcome of papillary thyroid cancers in the two groups were compared. Results The tumour characteristics did not differ significantly in the groups. The patients were followed for a mean period of 77.32 months and found significant incidences of disease progression in patients with papillary thyroid cancer associated with Graves' disease (p = 0.034; OR 2.747, CI 1.078–7.004). Disease progression as new distant metastases mostly in skeletal locations was high in this group compared to euthyroid group (p = 0.027; OR 4.121, CI 1.008–15.600). There was higher incidence of cumulative metastatic diseases in papillary thyroid cancer associated with Graves' disease. Conclusion Papillary thyroid cancers associated with Graves' disease show aggressive biological behaviour and favoured site of distant metastases was osseous locations. Early diagnosis by routine screening of Graves' disease patients with ultrasound imaging and aspiration studies is recommended.

There was high prevalence of renal dysfunction among symptomatic hyperparathyroidism. Patients with primary hyperparathyroidism should undergo complete sonological assessment of kidneys which may include presence of nephrocalcinosis and cortical echogenicity. Successful parathyroidectomy prevented deterioration of renal function in most of patients and a significant subset with renal dysfunction showed improvement of functional status.