Professional Singers' Vocal Issues after Thyroid Surgery

A study out of Harvard presented the typical vocal outcomes after thyroid surgery in professional singers. No other study has ever looked at this special patient population who are the Olympic athletes of the voice. Non-singers may be completely unaware of any subtle issues with the voice after thyroid surgery . However, for professional singers, even the slightest vocal quiver could be professionally unacceptable. The main issue with thyroid surgery as it pertains to the voice is that t…

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Large Thyroid Nodules Have Higher Risk of Cancer Even if Needle Biopsy is Normal

A recent 2015 study revealed that large thyroid nodules (over 3cm) have a higher risk of cancer and that needle biopsies are not very accurate in diagnosing cancer in such large nodules. This is hardly the first study to demonstrate this. In a 2009 study , surgeons at the University of Wisconsin found that fine needle aspiration  biopsy  (FNAB) in 26 of 52 FNAB reported as benign (50.0%) turned out to be either neoplastic (22) or malignant (4) on final pathologic analysis after  thyroidect…

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Actress Sofia Vergara Underwent Total Thyroidectomy for Thyroid Cancer

Actress Sofia Vergara , best known for her role in the TV hit comedy Modern Family, had her entire thyroid removed for thyroid cancer when she was 28 in 2000. This was followed by radioactive iodine therapy and now takes a daily thyroid hormone replacement for her hypothyroidism. Image by  Jenn Davis  from  Wikipedia Thyroid cancer is typically first suspected on a routine examination if a  neck mass  consistent with a  thyroid nodule  is palpated. An ultrasound of the neck is typicall…

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New Video on Thyroid Surgery and Its Complications

A new video has been created regarding how the thyroid gland is removed along with potential complications that may occur with this surgical procedure. This video creation was a collaborative effort between myself and Dr. Henson , the general surgeon who performed the actual operation portrayed in the video. Assistance by Robin Earl and the surgical staff at Fauquier Hospital were invaluable as well. Read more about the surgery here or watch the video !

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Why Do Biopsy Results Take So Long? [video]

One of the most common questions I get after a surgical procedure is how long it takes before biopsy results are back... especially when a mass was removed and there is a cancer concern. Does it take a few hours? 24 hours? Days? Disappointingly, it can take up to 7 days if not longer. You want to know why? Well, rather than explaining, watch a 6-minute video that explains the numerous steps that goes into providing a diagnosis after a mass is removed... in this particular case, a neck …

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Miss Oregon 2013 has Thyroid Cancer

Miss Oregon Gabrielle Neilan revealed that she had thyroid cancer for which she underwent a total thyroidectomy 2 weeks before winning the Miss Oregon beauty competition on 11/25/12. [ link ] She first felt the thyroid mass in September 2012. This was soon followed by a thyroid ultrasound and a biopsy (presumably via an ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration). The biopsy came back cancerous (unclear exactly what type of thyroid cancer). Given the thyroid cancer diagnosis, she un…

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