Has anyone here had or heard of a treatment option called Sclerotherapy (for thyroid cyst/goitre)?

[kummitati]

My understanding is that the liquid from the cyst is sucked out with a hollow needle and then 96% pure alchol is injected in it, left for 20 minutes and then taken out. This is done instead of a thyroid operation. Almost 90% success rate, treatment lasts about 1 hour and no sick leave needed. The almost pure alcohol sort of burns the cells inside the cyst. Only ''downside'' is that those doing traditional thyroid operations as their business and their anesthesist won't be needed for this. Apparently this method has existed since 1980s but I have only once read about it, written by a patient who had this successfully done in Finland by a good radiologist, eg. no need to take off half the thyroid and take hypomedication for rest of one's life.

Any additional info and/or views on this would be much appreciated.

[LouiseRoberts]

Sorry you have had no replies - I am responding to push this back onto latest activity - hopefully someone with revenant knowledge will see it..

L

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[Hidden]

It was never mentioned to me when I had a goitre. It definitely sounds like 'private medicine' territory to me. I don't know where you live, but the only people I can think of who might conceivably do this are Blackberry Clinic in Milton Keynes and a few other places in southern England. Link here: blackberryclinic.co.uk/cont.... Might be worth giving them a ring and at least picking their brains about it.

[kummitati]

Humphrey, thank you very much! I will definitely look the link and then give them a call (I'm not too far from MK).

And thank you Louise for your backing.

I have a multinodular goitre (I was diagnosed iodine deficient in 2010 which highly likely is caused by my primary illness of lyme disease that was undiagnosed over ten years. I started iodine supplements, then stupidly stopped as another doctor said to do so) and also have one so called cold nodule (latter developed, in my view, over a period of 25 years as a 'reminder or residue' of my gladular fever in my twenties eg EBV, CMV viruses, that one nodule never went away totally after the gladular fever). GP seems to think that any lump under 2cm in my neck is not cause for concern, I disagree.

My latest thyroid lab results that were done by The Doctors Laboratory (ordered by my lyme doctor, not GP):

Endocrinology:

TSH 0.65 (mIU/L - ref.range 0.27-4.2)

Free Thyroxine 15.2 (pmol/L - ref.range 12.0-22.0)

FreeT3 4.2 (pmol/L - ref.range 3.1-6.8)

Immunology:

Thyroid Antibodies

Thyroglobulin Antibody 15.6 (IU/mL - ref.range 0-115 (negative)

Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies 7.9 (IU/mL - ref.range 0-34)

Judged by bloods only - this confirms that I don't have Hashimotos - if I have understood anything.

My TSH was a year or so ago so low that it could not be measured, but GP had typed "no further action" next to the results that I got a print out from the surgery - so this TSH is good I guess. I was loosing a lot of weight, but since I started the iodine supplements again the weight has stabilised and thankfully I don't look like anorexic now (I hope).

Thank you again.

Kind regards

[Hidden in reply to kummitati]

Let us know how you get on?