Total Ablation of Thyroid in Angina Pectoris and Congestive Failure

Our purpose in this communication is to summarize our experience during the last eighteen months in ti eating seventy-five patients with chronic heart disease by removing the entire normal thyroid gland.1Our efforts have been directed in five main directions: (1) clinical appraisal of the therapeutic value of the procedure;2(2) establishment of criteria for the proper selection of patients; (3) reduction in the risk of operation through study of the surgical technic and the best possible preoperative and postoperative care;3(4) study of the mechanisms whereby the development of hypothyroidism results in relief of angina pectoris and congestive failure;4(5) investigation and control of the secondary consequences of the hypothyroid state.5Although final conclusions concerning these problems await the results obtained over a period of years, it may be helpful to state the results based on our present experience. The group of seventy-five patients