SURGERY OF THE THYROID OBSERVATIONS ON FIVE THOUSAND OPERATIONS

Abstract

During the twenty-five years ending May 14, 1913, 5,000 operations were performed on the thyroid in the clinic at St. Mary's Hospital. These operations were done on various types of goiters and may be classified as follows: Simple goiters....2,396 Including Transplantations in cretins.... 11 Operations for malignancy: carcinoma, 52; sarcoma, 7.. 59 Operations on syphilitic thyroids.... 1 Exophthalmic goiters, including double and single ligation, extirpation, partial thyroidectomy....2,295 Early operations not clasified, majority simple goiter.... 309 [unk] Total...5,000 An increase in the size of the thyroid may be physiologic or pathologic. In the higher invertebrates the gland has a marked sexual relationship, and through this association we have a suggestion that the thyroid may be a factor in the manifest disturbances which occur at certain periods, especially in the female, as the well-known goiter of adolescence, the congestion of the thyroid during menstruation and its not infrequent enlargement during pregnancy. While