2017 Volume 27 Issue 2 Pages 235-239
The American Thyroid Association （ATA） guidelines were revised in 2015. We compared the new ATA guidelines with the treatment of medullary thyroid carcinoma （MTC） in our hospital.
Five cases （2 males and 3 females） of MTC between 2000 and 2016 were included in this study, and the average age was 49.0 years. MTC was suspected in 3 cases by preoperative cytology. Genetic examination was performed in 4 cases （1 pre-operation, 3 post-operation）. There were 3 sporadic cases and 1 case of MEN 2 A. One case refused genetic examination.
In the case of MTC, total thyroidectomy is recommended in the ATA guidelines. On the other hand, for sporadic cases found to be MTC after surgery, total thyroidectomy is not necessarily recommended. In our hospital, 2 patients underwent hemithyroidectomy: both were sporadic, and no additional treatment was done.
In conclusion, genetic examination is extremely important for MTC therapy, so we will conduct genetic examinations of all MTC patients in the future. In accordance with the ATA guidelines, our hospital is planning to perform total thyroidectomy as the basic treatment. Depending on cases such as elderly sporadic cases, hemithyroidectomy is also considered.
