—This is not the place in which to consider in detail either the pathology or the drug treatment of this affection. By many surgeons it is regarded as a surgical disease, i. e., one to be treated by one of two operative methods, either thyroidectomy or excision of the cervical sympathetic. When such measures as electricity, Röntgen rays, and hydrotherapeutic treatment, and such drugs as belladonna, sodium phosphate, arsenic, iodine, phosphoric acid, etc., have failed, and when the antithyroidal serums or preparations, such as thyroidectin and antithyroidin have proved insufficient, then surgery remains a last resort. Unfortunately this is too long delayed. To remove the thyroid so soon as it is shown to be producing an injurious amount of oversecretion is neither a difficult nor a dangerous procedure, but to wait until the heart beats 150 times a minute and the patient is nearly maniacal is to wait until he is almost moribund and until it is too late. Nowhere does the remark, “The resources of surgery are seldom successful when practised on the dying,” apply more forcibly than to such cases as these.
As between sympathectomy, already described, and [thyroidectomy] (see below) it may be difficult to choose. By the time such a case comes to operation each will present its distinct difficulties. The question is mainly one of choice. A large tumor will obscure access to the sympathetic trunk in the neck, while, on the other hand, the neurectomy itself is probably a less dangerous procedure. The decision should be based on the predominance of the features due to vasomotor disturbances. Thus when the eyes are prominent, the pupils dilated, the palpebral fissure widely open and difficult of closure, there is reason for attacking the middle and upper cervical ganglia, which are not so difficult of access. Again when the heart is affected there would be a special indication for extirpating the inferior cervical ganglion, as well as the first dorsal; but the former will always be difficult in the presence of a thyroidal tumor, and the latter wellnigh impossible. When, however, thyroidal symptoms are pronounced, with difficulty in respiration or other purely pressure effects, thyroidectomy is indicated. This should be performed as described below. An effort should be made to preserve the capsule, at least on the inner and posterior aspect of the thyroid, in order that the parathyroids which lie in close relation to it may not be disturbed. Operations upon the vessels for the purpose of controlling the circulation are rarely practised, and the question in these cases is as between partial and complete extirpation.
Curtis has recently collected from the statistics of two German and two American operators 136 cases of exophthalmic goitre treated by thyroidectomy, with 17 deaths, chiefly from acute thyroidism. The most marked improvement realized was disappearance of tremor, nervousness, and insomnia, and of a feeling of anxiety, so common to the disease. To these may be added the more extensive experiences of Charles Mayo, which present extirpation as an almost ideal method of treatment.
As remarked above, all attempts at feeding with thyroid extract should be avoided, the case being one already suffering from hyperthyroidism. It should be noted that in few instances the thyroid seems to suffer from its own overactivity, and passes into a stage of physiological atrophy, with more or less subsidence in volume. In such a case the symptoms of Graves’ disease would gradually change into those of myxedema.
The thyroid itself is extremely vascular under all circumstances, particularly under these, to such an extent that pulsation becomes a prominent feature. This, however, should not be mistaken for that form of ordinary goitre in which the vessels undergo increase in dimensions and in which sometimes a loud bruit may be heard.
Malignant goitre implies a generalized involvement of the thyroid in one of the malignant forms of neoplasm. (See [below].) It is of rapid growth, with more or less infiltration of surrounding tissues, which is evidently not of inflammatory character but more distinctive.
THYROIDECTOMY.
This may be partial or total. It is important to leave a portion of the thyroid in order that the patient may not suffer from the consequences of athyroidism, i. e., cachexia strumipriva. It is generally understood that if one-sixth or one-seventh of the total mass can be left in situ, with sufficient blood supply, it will suffice. Thus it may be possible to leave the isthmus, after removing both lateral lobes, or a portion least affected of one of the latter may be left in place.
The character of the incision will depend on the size and position of the enlargement. For complete thyroidectomy a horseshoe-shaped incision, convexity downward, should be made, extending along the anterior border of the sternomastoids and then across the neck. This should be carried through the platysma and superficial fasciæ, the anterior jugular veins being secured when cut. The flap thus made is then raised, after which a large part of the subsequent procedure is made by blunt dissection, and separation of the surrounding muscles, which are held aside with retractors. When the tumor is so shaped and placed as to make it possible it is well to approach it laterally and secure the upper and lower thyroidal vessels on one side or both, dividing between double ligatures. If this be done the mass can be drawn forward in such a way as to avoid injury to the nerves and vessels, the operator keeping in close contact with the capsule, or, for reasons specified above, perhaps dividing and shelling out the mass from within it. Although the tumor may be occupied by large vessels, those which lead up to it—i. e., the thyroids—are rarely much enlarged. Nevertheless it is wise to secure them first. While the anterior muscles may, in many instances, be separated and the tumor mass exposed between them, there are cases which will require transverse division of the sternohyoid and sternothyroid, in which case they should be subsequently sutured.
One of the complications is to find the tumor mass extending down behind the sternum or the clavicle. From these locations it should be separated by cautious blunt dissection, else the pleura or one of the deep veins might be wounded. The former accident would be instantly denoted by the passage of air and its entrance into the thorax, the latter by severe hemorrhage.