Patients undergoing a unilateral procedure had a lower incidence of biochemical and severe symptomatic hypocalcemia in the early postoperative period compared with patients undergoing bilateral exploration. Unilateral neck exploration with intraoperative parathyroid hormone assessment is a valid surgical strategy in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism with distinct advantages, especially for patients with solitary parathyroid adenoma.

As a general principle in the treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism due to single adenoma, unilateral parathyroidectomy was applied to 50 patients and compared with another group of 50 conventionally explored patients. Twenty-five patients were explored only on the "adenoma" side. The other 25 patients were explored on both sides, avoiding biopsies at the first. In the conventionally explored patients, the adenoma was removed and one to three normal glands were biopsied. Oil-red-O technique was used in the intraoperative microscopical examination. The patients in whom the operation could be limited to the "adenoma" side had a statistically more favorable situation concerning early postoperative hypocalcemia, length of operation time, and need for calcium and vitamin D substitution. The principle of unilateral parathyroidectomy in conjunction with intraoperative oil-red-O staining technique is advocated in hyperparathyroidism due to single adenoma because it offers more reliable peroperative distinction between uni- and multi-glandular involvement, reduced operation time, decreased risk for complication, reduced early hypocalcemia, and more favorable technical conditions for reoperation.

The present study necessitates further randomized clinical study of SO therapy in the treatment of ACC, mainly as adjuvant treatment immediately after curative intended surgery, and could be developed into a regular treatment regimen.

The possible influence of cigarette smoking on goiter formation, thyroglobulin (Tg) secretion, and thyroid hormone production was assessed by estimations of the presence of palpable goiter and by RIAs of Tg, T3, rT3, T4, and TSH in sera from 441 women (48-53 yr old), representing a normal population included in a study on the prevalence of thyroid disease. Smoking habits were evaluated by a questionnaire, and the women were then classified as never smokers (n = 192), smokers (n = 169), and exsmokers (n = 80). Smokers were subdivided as moderate (1-19 cigarettes/day) and heavy (greater than or equal to 20 cigarettes/day). Palpable goiter was found in 15% of the smokers, in contrast to only 4% of the exsmokers and 9% of the never smokers. Among smokers, 37% had serum Tg values over 30 micrograms/liter (third quartile), while such values were found in only 16% of the exsmokers and 18% of the never smokers. In addition, smokers were found to have higher serum T3 and lower rT3 concentrations than never smokers; this difference was most pronounced in heavy smokers. Serum T4 was not different, while TSH was insignificantly lower in smokers than in nonsmokers. Exsmokers did not differ significantly from never smokers in any of these parameters. It seems possible that cigarette smoking may have two, calorigenically opposed, effects on thyroid hormone production; it may be goitrogenic (possibly due to inhaled thiocyanate), but it may also enhance the formation of T3 at the expense of rT3 formation.

Background. Anaplastic carcinoma of the thyroid (ACT) rarely can be cured, but every effort should be made to improve prognosis and, above all, prevent death due to suffocation or large local tumor ulceration. Methods. From 1984 to 1992, 33 consecutive patients with ACT were treated prospectively according to a combined treatment program consisting of hyperfractionated radiotherapy, doxorubicin, and debulking surgery. Preoperative radiotherapy was administered to a target dose of 30 Gy and postoperatively to a total dose of 46 Gy. Radiotherapy was performed 5 days a week. The daily fraction was 1.0 Gy × 2 until 1988, after which it was 1.3 Gy × 2. Otherwise, the therapy remained unchanged. Twenty milligrams of doxorubicin were administered intravenously per week. Debulking surgery was possible in 23 patients (70%). Results. No patient failed to complete the protocol because of toxicity. There were no signs of local recurrence in 16 patients (48%). In only eight patients (24%) was death attributed to local failure. In four patients, survival with no evidence of disease exceeded 2 years. Improvement in local tumor control was marginally significant (P = 0.08) in the 17 patients treated in the latter part of the study, with no sign of local disease in 11 patients and deaths due to local failure in only 2 patients. The improved local control could not be attributed to any differences between the two series. Conclusion. Combination modality treatment of ACT is feasible and effective despite the patients' advanced age and locally advanced disease. There was a tendency for local control to be improved after accelerated radiotherapy.