Advances in treatment for patients with thyroid cancer

Pictured, Professor Jonathan Serpell, whose speciality is the thyroid, examining a patient.  Prof Serpell and the Monash University Endocrine Surgery Unit have developed a thyroid cancer registry resulting in advances in treatment for patients with thyroid cancer. Research into monitoring of recurrent laryngeal nerve function during thyroidectomy has demonstrated several important findings including: that split nerves occur in 23% of cases;
an anatomical discovery that the motor branches to the larynx are located in the front branch; and supportive evidence shows that most recurrent laryngeal nerve palsies are temporary (good news for sufferers). See more about Surgery research at http://www.med.monash.edu.au/surgery/alfred/research/.