Breast cancer specialist adds thyroid treatment to services

“As breast cancer is linked to the endocrine system, we found that we were increasingly dealing with thyroid and parathyroid cases, so we’ve now formalised this service offering,” says Apffelstaedt.

He is one of the few surgeons that performs minimally invasive parathyroidectomies, a 15-minute “button hole” procedure to treat hyperparathyroidism.

“Undiagnosed or untreated hyperparathyroidism can progress to irreversible complications,” he says. “These include renal failure and hypertension with secondary detrimental effects.”

“We have completed the upskilling of our staff and are now officially launching the service in the practice with the hope that we can provide a holistic service to our patients,” says Apffelstaedt.

“I have seen many patients that have been undiagnosed for years with regards to thyroid disease, I hope to be able to educate patients enough to notice when they are experiencing thyroid health specific symptoms.”

The services that will now fall under thyroid health include:

• Thyroid health assessment
• Management of thyroid nodules or enlargement of the thyroid gland
• Thyroid cancer multidisciplinary clinic
• Thyroid cancer surgery
• Surgical treatment of hyperthyroidism
• Assessment of familial risk for thyroid cancer

The services that will now fall under parathyroid health include:

• Assessment of parathyroid function
• Ultrasound of parathyroids
• Surgical therapy for primary, secondary and tertiary hyperparathyroidism
• Minimally invasive parathyroidectomy

“Most thyroid disorders and diseases are very treatable. I have seen too many patients suffer for much longer than what was necessary before the thyroid disorder was diagnosed. We hope to break this cycle, get rid of misconceptions, and allow patients with thyroid disorders the opportunity to live a normal, long life”, concludes Apffelstaedt.