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Surgery-induced thyroiditis following laryngectomy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2006

E. J. S. M. Blenke
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, St. John’s Hospital, Livingston, West Lothian, UK.
G. A. Vernham
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, St. John’s Hospital, Livingston, West Lothian, UK.
G. Ellis
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Biochemistry, St. John’s Hospital, Livingston, West Lothian, UK.

Abstract

A 77-year-old euthyroid man developed atrial fibrillation on the fourth post-operative day following a total laryngectomy and right radical neck dissection including a hemi-thyroidectomy for a squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx with nodal metastases. The episode of atrial fibrillation coincided with an elevated serum free thyroxine of 3.36 ng/dl (43.3 pmol/L) (reference values: 0.71–1.85 ng/dl or 9.1–23.8 pmol/L), normal total triiodothyronine of 104 ng/dl (1.6 nmol/L) (reference values: 46–137 ng/dl or 0.7–2.1 nmol/L) and a suppressed thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) of 0.05 mIU/L (reference values: 0.35–5.0 mIU/L). These values, in relation to those prior and subsequent, suggested a surgery-induced thyroiditis. The limited literature about this controversial entity is reviewed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© Royal Society of Medicine Press Limited 2004

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