Otolaryngology Expert Opines on Lack of Appropriate Imaging

Case Overview

This case takes place in New York and involves a patient who was diagnosed by his otolaryngologist with thyroid cancer. As a result of these findings, the physician performed a thyroidectomy on the patient. However, the physician failed to perform lymphatic mapping of the patient’s neck, nor did he perform an ultrasound in order to ensure that the cancer had not metastasized to surrounding tissues. A few months after the thyroidectomy was performed, the cancer had spread to the patient’s lymph nodes. This required the patient to undergo a number of highly invasive surgeries in order to remove the remaining cancerous tissue, and has substantially reduced the patient’s quality of life and long-term prognosis.

Questions to the Otolaryngology expert and their responses

Do you routinely treat patients similar to the one described in the case?

I am a fellowship trained head and neck oncologic surgeon, practicing in an academic setting. I routinely perform thyroid surgery for both benign and malignant indications.

Have you ever had a patient develop the outcome described in the case?

I have seen patients treated with thyroidectomy develop lateral neck metastasis following initial surgical treatment of the primary tumor in the thyroid.

Do you believe there may have been a deviation in the standard of care that contributed to this patient's outcome?

The fact that these studies were not used prior to surgery would indicate a deviation from the standard of care.

About the expert

This expert is board certified and fellowship trained in advanced oncologic head and neck surgery. He is a member of numerous prestigious professional societies, including the American College of Surgeons, where he is also a Fellow. He currently serves as a Professor at a top medical university and an attending physician in the department of otolaryngology at a major medical hospital.