Otolaryngology: Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) has one of the most dismal prognoses for any malignancy. Attempts at surgical clearance can be frustrating for both patient and surgeon and is generally only advocated for early stage disease. For advanced cases, palliation and improved survival (however short) is the norm. In this paper, we attempted to analyze the survival benefit of surgical interventions, namely tracheostomy and thyroidectomy, performed on ATC patients admitted in a tertiary government hospital. A 5-year retrospective chart review of 22 patients was done. Patients discharged alive as of the time of last chart entry were followed up via phone interview or personal visit. Patients who cannot be reached were censored in the analysis. Overall survival was1111111111 the main outcome measure which was plotted as Kaplan-Meier estimates and compared via log-rank test. The incidence of complications surrounding the two procedures were also noted. In this study, all patients presented with either stage IVB or stage IVC disease. A significant difference in survival curves were noted when comparing between stages (p<0.05). Subgroup analysis per stage, however, revealed no significant difference in overall survival when comparing patients who did not undergo surgery, those who underwent tracheostomy or those who underwent thyroidectomy for both IVB (p=0.244) or IVC (p=0.165) disease. The incidence of complications for tracheostomy was 60%, the most common being mucus plugging. One patient succumbed to respiratory failure after accidental decannulation. For thyroidectomy, the incidence of complications was 80% with hypocalcemia being the most common.

Biography

Dr. Carlo Victorio Garcia is an otorhinolaryngology resident and he is presently working at University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital, Philippines.