LAUSR

Endocrine complications, including hypothyroidism and hypoparathyroidism, are the majority of specific complications of pharyngo-laryngo-esophagectomy (PLE) in cervical esophageal cancer (CEC) patients. Because of the loss of vocal function, patients who have undergone PLE often encounter difficulties reporting symptoms that are typically associated with endocrine complications. Therefore, healthcare providers need to know how to control thyroid hormone and albumin-corrected calcium level after PLE. However, very little was known about the risk factors of endocrine complications, and this fact made it difficult to control those complications after PLE. It is known that irradiation and the performance of a thyroid lobectomy are related to hypothyroidism. Furthermore, it was reported that hypoparathyroidism occurred frequently in patients undergoing pharyngolaryngectomy with total esophagectomy (PLTE) for pharyngoesophageal tumor. The authors hypothesized that (1) for CEC patients undergoing PLE with thyroid lobectomy, definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT) would have some effect on postoperative hypothyroidism, and (2) PLTE may also have some effect on postoperative hypoparathyroidism.