Obstetrics and Gynæcology

If, as appears likely, there is a reduction of parathyroid function after thyroidectomy, then the ball is back at the feet of the surgeon. It is he who must determine when and how he damages the parathyroids. Recent reports discount recurrent laryngeal nerve dissection (J. S. H. Wade") or inferior thyroid artery ligation (M. J. Lange's) as the cause, while yet others blame both. In effect we are back with Halsted and Evans> and have further to elucidate the anatomical, biochemical and surgical problems involved.