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Biomedical subjects

J K Harness

Publications and source records attributed to J K Harness.

32 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

The anatomy of primary hyperparathyroidism.

Although several classic anatomic studies describing the number, location, size, and weight of normal parathyroid glands have been reported, as detailed description of the parathyroid glands in a large series of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism has not been available. Drawings were made of the exact locations of each of the normal and enlarged parathyroid glands identified, immediately following neck explorations in all patients with primary hyperparathyroidism during a 4-year period (1977 to 1981). The enlarged glands were also measured and weighed after excision. The records of 273 patients were reviewed. Single gland enlargement (adenoma) was found in 218 patients (80%). Hyperplasia of all identified parathyroid glands was found in 42 patients (15%). Two adenomas (at least two other glands grossly and microscopically normal) were found in seven patients (2.6%). Seven patients (2.6%) with biochemical evidence of the disease had only normal glands at neck exploration. Adenomas in ectopic locations were frequent. However, their locations, with few exceptions, were predictable. The larger an adenoma, the more likely it was to be ectopic. Right superior gland adenomas (mean size 2.6 cm) were ectopic in 39%. Left superior glands (mean size 2.62 cm) were ectopic in 36%. No superior parathyroid adenomas were intrathyroidal. five of 223 (2%) adenomas were entirely surrounded by thyroid parenchyma in the lower pole. Nearly all inferior gland adenomas within the thymus could be readily excised through the cervical incision. In the seven cases in which only normal parathyroids were identified, no fewer than three glands wer proven in each. Three patients have had subsequent mediastinal exploration and excision of an adenoma. This failure rate of cervical exploration (4%) is attributed to mediastinal adenomas, and a second adenoma, and incorrect diagnosis. An awareness of the frequency of ectopic adenomas and their usual locations is of considerable benefit to the surgeon. Identification of the normal glands is of great importance as the search for a specific missing gland (adenoma) can be conducted in a logical sequence based on anatomic and embryologic knowledge of the parathyroids.

Adenoma↗
PubMed1981

Nesidioblastosis in adults. A surgical dilemma.

Nesidioblastosis is the leading cause of hyperinsulinemia in newborns and infants. To our knowledge, it has not been previously reported in adults unless associated with other diseases. Three males and three females, aged 11 to 57 years, are described. Pancreatic resections ranged from 50% to 100%. Postoperatively, three patients were normoglycemic, two were insulin-dependent diabetics, and one had recurrent hypoglycemia controlled by drugs. The histologic findings in adults were very similar to those in infants with nesidioblastosis. It appears that a minimum resection of 75% to 80% of the pancreas will benefit the majority of patients, alleviating hypoglycemia and preventing the development of diabetes.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Selective management of penetrating neck trauma. Cost implications.

Many authors advocate mandatory surgical exploration for all patients with penetrating neck trauma, while other maintain that with careful diagnostic evaluation some patients safely can be spared an operation. From our hospitals, 65 cases of penetrating neck trauma were reviewed, 27 of which showed no mortality without operation. Surgical exploration of the neck showing no injury added $1,930 to the cost of hospitalization. Review of the surgical literature discloses that mortalities reported by authors advocating selective and mandatory exploration are similar. The incidence of missed significant injury is low among patients observed selectively. A management algorithm for the diagnostic evaluation and treatment of patients with penetrating neck trauma is advocated. All stable patients should undergo four-vessel angiography. Studies of the cervical esophagus may be performed. Patients with entirely normal diagnostic evaluations may be observed safely, sparing unnecesary operation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Spontaneous cervical hematoma: a rare manifestation of parathyroid adenoma.

Extracapsular hemorrhage from spontaneous rupture of a hyperplastic parathyroid gland is exceedingly rare. Rupture of an intrathoracic parathyroid adenoma mimicking a dissecting thoracic aortic aneurysm has been reported in two cases. Hypercalcemic crisis associated with contained hemorrhage within a parathyroid adenoma has been well documented. We present the first reported case of spontaneous rupture and extracapsular hemorrhage of a cervical parathyroid adenoma. Serum calcium levels should be obtained when spontaneous cervical or mediastinal hemorrhage develops without obvious cause.

Adenoma↗
PubMed1979

Multiple adenomas of the parathyroids: do they exist?

Since Cope's original description of chief cell hyperplasia in 1958, there has been general agreement that this entity is the most common cause of multiple parathyroid enlargement. Whether or not multiple adenomas of the parathyroid glands ever occur has been seriously questioned. Criteria are proposed for defining the entity of multiple parathyroid adenomas in contrast with hyperplasia. With the use of these criteria, five patients with multiple adenomas were found in our last 300 cases of primary hyperparathyroidism.

Adenoma↗
PubMed1978

Management of severe hypercalcemia caused by primary hyperparathyroidism.

Hypercalcemic crisis is a rare but often fatal complication of hyperparathyroidism (HPT). The reported mortality of 60% has been related to delay in diagnosis and appropriate treatment. During a 16-year period (1961 to 1977), 29 patients with severe symptomatic hypercalcemia caused by primary HPT were treated at the Surgical Service at the University of Michigan Hospital. This group represents 6% of the patients with primary HPT treated during this period. All but one patient had an exploration of the neck when the serum calcium level had been decreased to 12 mg/100 ml by intravenous hydration with saline, furosemide diuresis, and mithramycin when a hypocalcemic agent was required. One comatose patient died of irreversible shock. All of the 28 patients who had parathyroidectomies survived the early postoperative period. One patient died three weeks later of a myocardial infarction. This study demonstrates that emergent nonoperative care of parathyroid crisis, followed promptly by parathyroidectomy, can be successful in nearly all cases.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Differentiated thyroid carcinoma in children and adolescents.

From 1936 to 1990, 89 children and adolescents (72 girls and 17 boys) were treated for differentiated thyroid carcinoma at the University of Michigan Medical Center; 58 of these patients were first reported in 1971. Thirty (34%) patients had previously received external irradiation to the head and neck, although only 1 (3%) patient of the last 33 patients seen had this history. Patients first presenting from 1971 to 1990 had less advanced disease than those seen earlier. Also, during this time period, the rate of initial palpable cervical adenopathy fell from 63% to 36%, local infiltration of primary cancer from 31% to 6%, and initial pulmonary metastases from 19% to 6%. The incidence of cervical nodal metastases has remained 88% for 54 years. Papillary or the follicular variant of papillary carcinoma was found in 93% of all patients. Seventy-nine (89%) patients had total or completion total thyroidectomy. Surgical management of lymphatic metastases varied from regional excision of nodes to radical neck dissection. The overall rate of permanent accidental recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy and hypoparathyroidism was 4.5%, although neither has occurred in a child or adolescent undergoing surgery at the center in the past 25 years. The most recent 33 patients had a low rate of local/regional persistence or recurrence. Cervical nodal persistence occurred in 21%; there were no thyroid recurrences. Eighty-two percent of patients received 131I. The long-term mortality rate was 2.2%. We continue to advocate total thyroidectomy, cervical lymph node dissection, and postoperative 131I therapy as the most conservative treatment regimen for children with differentiated thyroid carcinoma.

Adenocarcinoma↗