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Background: Little is known about costs associated with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) and follow-up care. This study used data from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database to examine cumulative costs attributable to disease stage and treatment options of DTC in elderly patients over 5 years., Methods: We identified 2,823 patients aged >65 years with DTC and 5,646 noncancer comparison cases from SEER Medicare data between 1995 and 2005. Cumulative costs were obtained by estimating average costs/patient in each month up to 60 months after diagnosis. We performed multivariate analyses of costs by fitting each monthly cost to linear models, controlling for demographics and comorbidities. Marginal effects of covariates were obtained by summing coefficients over 60 months., Results: Cumulative costs were $17,669/patient the first year and $48,989/patient 5 years after diagnosis. Regional disease was associated with higher costs at 1 year ($9,578) and 5 years ($8,902). Distant disease was associated with 1-year costs of $28,447 and 5-year costs of $20,103. Patients undergoing surgery and radiation had a decrease in cost of $722 at 5 years., Conclusion: DTC in the elderly is associated with significant economic burden largely attributable to patient demographics, stage of disease, and treatment modalities., (Copyright © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Chronic lithium therapy may cause hyperparathyroidism (HPT). The utility of intraoperative parathyroid hormone monitoring (IOPTH) in these patients is unknown. The authors' hypothesis was that multiglandular disease is more common in these patients, and the ability of IOPTH to predict cure may be limited., Methods: Twelve patients had HPT during chronic lithium therapy and underwent parathyroidectomy with IOPTH. Criteria for curative resection were a decrease > or =50% from baseline and into the normal range. Calcium and PTH levels were measured during follow-up., Results: Preoperatively, mean calcium was 11.0 +/- 0.1 mg/dL, and PTH was 116 +/- 14 pg/mL. Fifty percent of patients had multiglandular disease confirmed by IOPTH levels. Mean IOPTH decrease from baseline was 74 +/- 4%. Although 10 of 12 patients met criteria for curative resection, only 8 remain normocalcemic. The 2 patients who did not meet criteria remain normocalcemic. Mean postoperative calcium for all patients was 9.5 +/- 0.2 mg/dL. Of the 10 normocalcemic patients, 4 also have hyperparathormonemia (mean PTH, 119 +/- 19 pg/mL)., Conclusions: The incidence of multiglandular disease in HPT after chronic lithium exposure is higher than standard HPT. The ability of IOPTH to predict durable normocalcemia is limited. Bilateral neck exploration should be considered for these patients regardless of whether IOPTH monitoring is used.

Background: Intraoperative parathyroid hormone (IOPTH) monitoring is common during parathyroidectomy. We hypothesized that sample site (peripheral vs central vein) may impact IOPTH interpretation., Methods: Two hundred and one patients underwent curative parathyroidectomy for single-gland disease. IOPTH was drawn peripherally (PV) in 114 patients and centrally (CV, jugular vein) in 87 patients. Decrease from baseline IOPTH and the presence of a normal value at 10 and 15 minutes were determined. The slope of IOPTH decay was calculated. These data were compared between sample sites., Results: Median baseline IOPTH was 268 pg/mL (CV) and 191 pg/mL (PV, P = .003). The mean IOPTH decay slopes were -0.75 (PV) and -0.76 (CV, P = NS), and the mean percent IOPTH decrease at 10 minutes was 79% PV and 80% CV (P = NS). At 10 minutes, a > or =50% drop from baseline was seen in 94% (CV) versus 97% (PV) of patients ( P = NS), resulting in a median IOPTH of 40 pg/mL (CV) versus 34 pg/mL (PV, P = .09). By 15 minutes, the central IOPTH had decreased by > or =50% of baseline in 98% of patients ( P = NS when compared to the 10-minute PV site)., Conclusions: IOPTH kinetics are largely the same for PV and CV sample sites, but baseline values are higher with central sampling. Consequently, CV IOPTH levels are generally higher at 10 minutes, but this discrepancy resolves by 15 minutes. The surgeon utilizing CV samples may need to extend the sampling period.

Background: Endocrine surgery is a discipline that is dedicated to high-quality care of patients with endocrine surgical disease. The relationship between its "identity" as a separate field and clinical practice patterns is not known., Methods: The National Inpatient Sample was searched by the International Classification of Diseases-9th revision-Clinical Modification codes for parathyroidectomy, thyroidectomy, and adrenalectomy for the years 1988 through 2000. The surgeons who performed these operations were profiled by 2 methods: Method A, by the percentage of the total primary International Classification of Diseases-9th revision-Clinical Modification procedure codes that were the selected endocrine procedures; method B, by absolute number of index endocrine procedures performed per year. Only patients with complete coding data for the surgeons were included., Results: In this sample, surgeons whose practice was comprised of 25% or less of these endocrine procedures performed 11,071 parathyroidectomies (78% of total), 46,210 thyroidectomies (82% of total), and 4209 adrenalectomies (94% of total). In contrast, surgeons whose practice was comprised of more than 75% of these endocrine procedures performed 769 parathyroidectomies (5% of total), 1560 thyroidectomies (3% of total), and 128 adrenalectomies (3% of total)., Conclusion: If these data can be extrapolated to indicate generalized practice patterns, the majority of common operations for endocrine disease are performed by surgeons whose practice is not focused on endocrine surgery. However, much of this effect is due to the fact that non-endocrine surgeons far outnumber endocrine surgeons. This understanding of clinical practice patterns will be important to consider during future studies that seek to determine the relationship between surgeon volume and patient outcomes.