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Biomedical subjects

K M van Tol

Publications and source records attributed to K M van Tol.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Life expectancy in differentiated thyroid cancer: a novel approach to survival analysis.

In differentiated thyroid carcinoma 10-year survival rates amount to 80-95%. Because age at diagnosis varies widely, these survival rates strongly depend on age at presentation. The aim of the present study was to analyse the attributable risk factors, including therapy per se, on survival in thyroid cancer after proper adjustment for the baseline mortality rate in the general population and to elucidate the adverse treatment effects on survival. Initial treatment in 504 patients consisted of thyroidectomy and 131I ablation. High-dose 131I was administered for residual disease. Patients in complete remission underwent an annual physical examination and thyroglobulin measurements during TSH suppression. Survival time was studied after transformation to standardised survival time to adjust for the baseline mortality rate in the general population. Median follow-up since diagnosis was 9 years. The 10-year overall survival was 83% and disease-specific survival 91%. After initial treatment, persistent disease occurred in 75 patients (15%). In univariate analysis, T4, N1, M1 status and Hürthle cell type were prognostic for persistent and recurrent disease. Age was not prognostic for recurrent disease in multivariate analysis. The standardised survival time was not altered in disease-free patients. However, patients with persistent disease had a median standardised survival time of only 0.60 (95% confidence interval 0.47;0.72), ranging from 0 to above 1, independent of initial tumour status or age. The cumulative proportion of persistent disease was at least 20% of the whole group. Disease-free patients after thyroid carcinoma have a normal residual life span. In contrast, in cases of persistent disease the life expectancy ranges widely with its median being reduced to 60%. Overall, treatment including radioiodine is safe but unsuccessful in 20% of the patients. Age is not a disease-specific risk factor and should not be used as an independent factor in treatment algorithms.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Pituitary apoplexy presenting during pregnancy.

Pituitary apoplexy during pregnancy is a rare but serious event with significant morbidity and even possible mortality if not recognised in time. A 26-year-old woman was admitted with sudden onset of severe headache, vomiting, disturbed consciousness and photophobia. MRI showed a pituitary apoplexy. Adrenal insufficiency with circulatory shock was present together with deficiency of the other hormones produced by the adenohypophysis. After treatment with glucocorticoids, diabetes insipidus developed for which treatment was given. She was treated conservatively and the clinical picture improved in a few days, followed by an uneventful pregnancy and delivery. A second MRI showed regression of mass effect with tumour expanding into the left cavernous sinus. No signs of tumour progression or abnormal hormone secretion have occurred up to one year after the event. Complete pituitary insufficiency has remained. The literature on the subject is reviewed with special emphasis on the circumstances in which pituitary apoplexy occurred and on the treatment of this endocrine emergency. In conclusion, pituitary apoplexy is a rare complication of pregnancy. The severe consequences of missing the diagnosis underline the importance of this potentially lethal endocrine emergency.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Outcome in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer with negative diagnostic whole-body scanning and detectable stimulated thyroglobulin.

BACKGROUND: Management of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma with negative diagnostic radioiodide scanning and increased serum thyroglobulin (Tg) concentrations is a widely debated problem. High-dose iodine-131 treatment of patients who have a negative (131)I diagnostic whole-body scan (WBS) is advocated. However, the therapeutic benefit of this "blind" treatment is not clear. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the course of serum Tg during thyroid hormone suppression therapy (Tg-on) and clinical outcome in patients with negative diagnostic (131)I scanning and increased serum Tg concentrations during thyroid hormone withdrawal (Tg-off), after treatment with high-dose (131)I. DESIGN: Retrospective single-center study. METHODS: Fifty-six patients were treated with a blind therapeutic dose of 150 mCi (131)I. Median follow-up from this treatment until the end of observation was 4.2 Years (range 0.5-13.5 Years). RESULTS: The post-treatment WBS revealed (131)I uptake in 28 patients, but none in the remaining 28 patients. In this study the Tg-on values did not change after treatment in either the positive or the negative post-treatment WBS group. During follow-up, 18 of the 28 patients with a positive post-treatment WBS achieved complete remission, compared with 10 of the 28 patients with a negative post-treatment WBS. Nine patients in the negative group died, but no patients died in the positive post-treatment group (P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: High-dose iodine treatment in diagnostically negative patients who have a negative post-treatment scan seems to confer no additional value for tumor reduction and survival. In patients with a positive post-treatment scan, high-dose iodine treatment can be used as a diagnostic tool to identify tumor location, and a therapeutic effect may be present in individual cases.

Adenoma, Oxyphilic↗
PubMed2001

Differentiated thyroid carcinoma in the elderly.

The overall prognosis of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer is excellent, but the prognosis is rapidly worsening, when the disease is diagnosed in elderly patients. Old patients more often present with poor prognostic features, such as large tumors, follicular or Hürthle cell subtypes, extrathyroidal growth and distant metastases. Therefore, an optimal therapeutic approach is recommended. Current therapy includes a total thyroidectomy, if necessary combined with a lymph node dissection and followed by high dose radioiodine ablation. Radioiodine therapy in elderly patients meets specific problems, concerning thyroid hormone withdrawal, side effects of 131I and nursing problems. Additional treatment of residual, recurrent or metastatic disease must be tailored, according to the stage of the disease, and should not be denied on the basis of chronological age. Lifelong treatment with suppressive thyroid hormone therapy does not lead to important long-term side effects at old age.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

Differentiated thyroid carcinoma: a polygenic disease.

Differentiated thyroid cancer is a rare disease and until recently was considered to be sporadic. However, increasing evidence has been found for a genetic basis of this disease. In approximately 5% of patients the differentiated thyroid cancer is dominantly inherited. Several families with different syndromes, of which differentiated thyroid cancer is a feature, have already been described. However, until now, single genes explain only a minority of cases. We hypothesize that differentiated thyroid cancer is a polygenic disease. Data from epidemiologic studies, about occult and multifocal carcinomas and the different response to specific risk factors contribute to this hypothesis.

Carcinoma↗
PubMed1995

Diurnal variation in glomerular charge selectivity, urinary albumin excretion and blood pressure in insulin-dependent diabetic patients.

The urinary albumin excretion rate (AER) in a subgroup of patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) steadily increases. In these patients a concomitant reduction of the glomerular charge selectivity index (SI) has been demonstrated. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether diurnal variation in AER could be related to a diurnal variation in SI and/or a diurnal blood pressure variation. Thirty-three patients with IDDM, 27 with normal albumin excretion (AER < 20 micrograms/min; group D(o)) and six with incipient nephropathy (AER from 20 to 200 micrograms/min; group DA), were studied. AER and SI (renal clearance ratio of total-IgG/IgG4) were measured in three different urine collecting periods: period A (8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m.), period B (12:00 a.m. to bedtime) and period C (bedtime to 8:00 a.m.). A significant increase in SI was seen during the nighttime: period A, 1.6 (0.2 to 3.8; mean, range); period B, 1.7 (0.3 to 3.0); and period C, 2.0 (0.2 to 4.0); P = 0.01. Corresponding to this observation, an overall significant decrease in AER was found: period A, 10 (3 to 137) micrograms/min (median, range); period B, 8 (3 to 84) micrograms/min; and period C, 5 (0 to 78) micrograms/min; P < 0.001. In all three sampling periods a negative correlation was found between AER and SI. When group D(o) was analyzed alone, the results were similar. Diurnal variation in blood pressure was significantly positively correlated with AER in group DA, but was not correlated to variation in AER in D(o). We suggest that in normoalbuminuric IDDM patients diurnal variation in AER is related to diurnal variation in SI.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

[Skin lesions as a rare initial symptom of Kahler's disease].

Multiple skin lesions developed in a 70 year-old-man. Pathological examination revealed plasmacytomas. Because of the presence of a IgD paraprotein and 15% abnormal plasma cells in the bone marrow Kahler's disease of the IgD type was diagnosed. In accordance with literature the course of the disease was rapidly progressive. After an initial favourable response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the patient died one year after diagnosis. Extraosseous tissue involvement and hepatosplenomegaly are well-known phenomenon of IgD-Kahler's disease. Skin plasmacytomas as the first symptom of the disease are very rare.

Aged↗