The Laryngoscope
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Comparative Study
Levothyroxine dose following thyroidectomy is affected by more than just body weight.
To determine the factors that affect levothyroxine (LT4) requirements following thyroidectomy. ⋯ LT4 dosage following thyroidectomy, calculated using actual body weight, can range from 1.4 to 2.2 μg/kg and is dependent on diagnosis (benign vs. malignant), goal TSH, sex, and menopausal status.
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Comparative Study
Utility of positron-emission tomography/computed tomography imaging in the management of the neck in recurrent laryngeal cancer.
Patients who develop recurrence of laryngeal cancer after radiotherapy organ preservation protocols are offered salvage laryngectomy, often with bilateral neck dissection. However, there can be multiple complications of neck dissection in the previously irradiated neck, including poor wound healing and increased potential for fistula. Positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) may have the ability to spare some of these patients from the morbidity of unnecessary neck dissections if it can reliably exclude recurrent nodal disease. The purpose of our study was to determine whether preoperative PET/CT could correctly predict the pathologic status of the neck in patients with locally recurrent laryngeal cancer and clinically N0 neck. ⋯ We believe that this false negative rate is too high to warrant deferring neck dissection based on PET/CT, and we recommend that patients who are clinically N0 for recurrent laryngeal cancer be offered neck dissection along with salvage laryngectomy.
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Comparative Study
Late complications of nickel-titanium alloy stent in tracheal stenosis.
To investigate and treat the late complications of using nickel-titanium alloy stents in laryngotracheal, bronchial, and esophageal stenosis patients who developed severe laryngotracheal stenosis (SLS). ⋯ The nickel-titanium alloy stents should be used with extreme caution in patients with laryngotracheal, bronchial, or esophageal stenosis treatment that can be corrected by surgical therapy.