Abstract. Adrenal autotransplantation after bilateral total adrenalectomy has been utilized to eliminate the need for replacement therapy and to prevent the late occurrence of Nelson's syndrome in some patients with Cushing's disease. It is possible to follow these cases up closely today, owing to the highly developed hormonal evaluation and imaging techniques. In this study, two patients who underwent bilateral total adrenalectomy and cortex autotransplantation are presented. The autografts were found functional and the patients had not required any steroid replacement therapy.
We report a 34-year-old woman with intrathyroid metastasis of choriocarcinoma associated with pulmonary and brain metastasis. The patient presented with a solitary thyroid nodule. Needle biopsy showed anaplastic malignant cells. Pathologic evaluation after thyroidectomy showed choriocarcinoma in the thyroid gland and the patient subsequently underwent combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy with satisfactory response. This is only the third reported case of metastatic choriocarcinoma in the thyroid gland and emphasizes this rare clinical presentation of choriocarcinoma.
Forty-eight patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC), who had no evidence of tumor recurrence or metastases on studies such as radioiodine scanning, neck ultrasonography, and with thyrotropin (TSH) and thyroglobulin (Tg) levels less than 1 mU/L and 5 ng/mL, respectively, were included in the study. The mean age was 43 +/- 12 years (range 15-65) and all were receiving levothyroxine (LT4) treatment with a mean dose of 184 +/- 46 microg daily. Patients were divided into two groups; group A included patients that had baseline TSH levels of 0.4 mU/L or more, and group B patients had baseline TSH levels of less than 0.4 mU/L. LT4 doses for all patients were increased, and serum TSH and Tg measurements were reevaluated after 2 months of dose increments. The mean TSH of group A (patients with baseline TSH levels > or = 0.4 mU/L) decreased from 0.67 +/- 0.28 mU/L to 0.16 +/- 0.08 mU/L (p < 0.001), but mean serum Tg level showed no change after dose increments (2.92 +/- 1.36 ng/mL vs. 3.59 +/- 0.93 ng/mL at the second month; p > 0.05). Similar results were also observed in group B (patients with baseline TSH levels < 0.4 mU/L). Mean TSH level decreased from 0.26 +/- 0.07 mU/L to 0.1 +/- 0.05 mU/L (p = 0.006), but no decrease occurred in mean Tg level (3.0 +/- 1.16 ng/mL vs. 3.3 +/- 1.03 ng/mL; p > 0.05). The patients' data were reevaluated according to second-month TSH levels. Patients with a TSH level between 0.11 to 0.4 mU/L were set as "final TSH > 0.1 group," and patients with a TSH level equal or less than 0.1 mU/L were set as "final TSH < or = 0.1 group," and baseline and second-month Tg levels were assessed. The mean second month Tg levels did not differ in these two patient groups (3.7 +/- 0.74 ng/mL for final TSH > 0.1 group vs. 3.3 +/- 1.2 ng/mL for final TSH < or = 0.1 group; p > 0.05). No difference could be found between initial and second-month Tg levels in both groups (2.8 +/- 1.4 ng/mL vs. 3.7 +/- 0.74 ng/mL in final TSH > 0.1 group and 3.11 +/- 1.1 ng/mL vs. 3.3 +/- 1.2 in final TSH < or = 0.1 group; p > 0.05). In conclusion, these results indicate that serum Tg levels cannot be suppressed by maximal TSH suppression in tumor-free DTC patients. The suppression of TSH to less than 0.1 mU/L seems not to be necessary in most patients who have no evidence of active disease.
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