The endocrine surgery team of Hospital da Luz Lisboa tested, for the first time in Portugal, the EleVision™ platform in three patients submitted to total thyroidectomy, last March 23. Coordinated by surgeon Miguel Allen, the team had the opportunity to confirm the efficacy of this innovating technology in the preservation of the thyroid glands, which is fundamental for these patients. In fact, one potential complication of total thyroidectomy is hypoparathyroidism – a disease that results from the lack of parathyroid hormone, which is produced by parathyroid glandes, manifesting in low levels of calcium in the blood, with a need of constant replenishment. Therefore, during surgery, all parathyroid glands must be identified and preserved with viable vascularization. The new EleVision™ Medtronic equipment: Simplifies the identification of those parathyroid glands by surgeons, during thyroid dissection. Giving the possibility of high-definition viewing, with the overlaying of autofluorescence imaging by infrared over the real image of the operatory field, provides ground-breaking additional clinical information, that can improve surgical decisions; It allows, on the other hand, at the end of surgery, to verify the vascularization of preserved parathyroid glands, leading to the potential autotransplant of devascularized parathyroid glands. This new technology, combined with the intraoperative neuromonitoring of the recurrent laryngeal nerve, may have impact on the reduction of hypoparathyroidism as a potential postoperative complication and consequent risks of loss of quality of life and greater need of healthcare. The endocrine surgery team of Hospital da Luz Lisboa is one of the first in Europe to test this technology.
