[Surgery of substernal thyroid goiter].

A retrospective study on 87 substernal thyroid nodules operated between 1965 and 1994 was made. Among them 73.6% were goiters, 14.9% adenoma and 11.5% malignancy. Resection via cervical collar incision was performed in 70% of all cases, sternotomy in 16% and thoracotomy in 14%. A cervical collar incision was adequate in 91% of 43 cases after 1985, only one goiter was completed by sternotomy. Morbidity rate of complications was 41.4%, while the rate of recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis was 20.7%. Surgery via cervical collar incision for all retrosternal thyroid nodules was advised and sternotomy or thoracotomy are suggested.