[lin]

#1019552

I am looking ahead in case I get to the point where I must choose between RAI and TT, and am leaning towards the surgery. I have been reading that some doctors now do endoscopic or video-assisted TTs and that they are less invasive. However, a surgeon (who does not do these) told a friend that those actually have more complications than the traditional surgery. Does anyone have any knowledge/experience with this?

[Ellen_B]

#1072431

I have no first hand experience with thyroidectomy as I have not had to have my thyroid remove. Also I do not have any information on endoscopic or video assisted TT (total thyroidectomy) to pass on to you. I do know that if you are going to have a thyroidectomy it is important to find an endocrine surgeon who specializes in thyroid surgery. First of all, you should ask your thyroid specialist whom he would recommend to do your surgery. Secondly, when you speak to your surgeon you should be able ask some questions. Two questions you might ask: How many thyroidecomies do you do in a week or year and what is your rate of vocal cord injury and parathyroid injury? You probably know that there are 4 parathyroid glands located on the backside of the thyroid gland and that there are a pair of nerves that pass by the thyroid to the vocal cords. Removal of the parathyroids means loss of calcium metabolism and disturbance of the nerves causes hoarseness.
If you wish to speak to me directly, leave a message on our toll free number and I will return your call. If you send an email to the Graves’ Disease Foundation that will reach me too.
Ellen Brightly
Administrative Assistant
Graves’ Disease Foundation
400 International Drive
Williamsville, NY 14221
Toll-free – (877) 643-3123
Email: Gravesdiseasefd@gmail.com
Website: NGDF.org

[npatterson]

#1072432

This procedure is not performed in the United States. I first heard about it in Canada, Dr. Wong with one, maybe two patients. He is no longer performing the procedure. It is officially called THYROID ARTERIAL ABLATION, and is currently in advanced clinical trials in China. Dr. Haipeng Xiao, Division of Endocrinology, First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. The last information I have is that there are 50 patients in the advaznced clinical trials, and they are doing well. We will probably be hearing about this for many years to come.

This doesn’t really help, but it is informative I hope.

Take care,

[James]

#1072433

Hello everyone,

The procedure that was tested in Canada with further study in China called, “Thyroid Arterial Embolization” is not a TT. The thyroid in this procedure is kept intact, it is the arteries feeding the thyroid (superior and inferior) and most of their branches that are blocked through this fairly non-invasive procedure. Ideally the procedure would reduce the size of the thyroid tissue and help bring about euthyroidism (normal thyroid levels) . This was a big medical news story a number of years ago in my hometown (Calgary, Canada) where the procedure was being tested at the time. As Nancy mentioned, there weren’t many patients in Canada that had the procedure done. I have communicated with Dr. Wong in the past and received some interesting information from him.

Just to be clear, this is not a standard or proven therapy as of yet as promising as it sounds. With that being said, it is important for us to encourage research and become as informed as possible to all of treatments that are or could become available to us in the future. As Nancy mentioned, we will probably hear a lot more about this in the years to come. Stay tuned.

Regards,

James

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