History of thyroid and parathyroid surgery

Endocrine surgery is the concept and practice of surgically applied human physiology. This concept has deep historical roots and has been nourished by many thoughts, ideas, and discoveries. Several individuals influenced this interesting field primarily providing answers to human physiology and secondarily to questions on surgical technique. Indeed, the proper function of the thyroid as an endocrine gland was discovered by a surgeon. Moreover, surgeons pioneered the recognition of parathyroid disease. Unlike in any other field, operative principles in endocrine surgery have been developed after recognition of the homeostatic regulations of different endocrine organ systems. Hence interest in molecular biology resulted in a profound understanding of the endocrine control of cellular homeostasis. This resulted in the first entirely gene-directed surgical procedure in man, the prophylactic thyroidectomy in multiple endocrine syndrome 2A. Historically, endocrine surgery represents a major pathway for the import and export of ideas, a trafficking place, where anatomy, physiology, biological and analytical chemistry, imaging, and surgical technique have ideally met and influenced each other.