December 28, 1999
Web posted at: 10:25 p.m. EST (0325 GMT)

From staff and wire reports

BALTIMORE (CNN) -- Tipper Gore, wife of Vice President Al Gore, was alert and resting comfortably after undergoing thyroid surgery Tuesday at Johns Hopkins Medical Center.

Tipper Gore

Doctors removed a nodule that was found on her thyroid during a routine medical examination. The nodule, or lump, will be tested to see if it is cancerous. Results of the post-operative biopsy won't be known for about a week, her office said.

Mrs. Gore, 51, is expected to be released from the hospital Wednesday, according to her spokeswoman Camille Johnston. The vice president is staying overnight with his wife.

Operation took two hours

Mrs. Gore's office said she underwent a right thyroid lobectomy -- a procedure the hospital described as precautionary. The operation took just over two hours.

	VIDEO
CNN's Dr. Steve Salvatore provides some details on thyroid problems. (December 28) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

"Today's surgery was performed without complications..," her surgeon Robert Udelsman said. "Earlier diagnostic studies ... were performed and were inconclusive."

Mrs. Gore plans to take a week off to fully recover from the surgery, while her husband is to return to the campaign trail Monday in Iowa.

The surgery was recommended as a "precautionary measure" after the nodule was discovered during an examination for a chronic neck injury that she has checked from time to time, Johnston said. She said there are no symptoms of a thyroid condition and her thyroid hormone levels are "perfectly normal."

The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland located in the front of the neck just below the Adam's apple. It produces hormones that regulate metabolism and influence the specific functions of organs throughout the body.

Thyroid nodules can be cancerous, although there is no indication that Mrs. Gore's nodule is malignant. The majority of such growths turn out to be benign.

According to Johns Hopkins' Web site, thyroid nodules are lumps that commonly arise within the gland. At least one in 15 women and one in 60 men in the United States have a thyroid nodule. These nodules are usually clumps of thyroid cells that are growing abnormally within the gland. Thyroid nodules may also be cysts, fluid-filled cavities, or swellings caused by thyroid inflammation.

CNN medical correspondent Steve Salvatore said the nodules usually appear without symptoms, like Mrs. Gore's. However, he said the symptoms that are associated with thyroid nodules include tenderness in the thyroid area, ear or jaw pain, difficulty or discomfort swallowing, a tickling feeling in the throat and shortness of breath with exertion because the nodule may be compressing the windpipe.

Salvatore said there are certain characteristics that would raise a doctor's suspicion of a nodules, including rapid growth, associated hoarseness, coughing up blood and a lack of tenderness around the nodule. Doctors will also want to know if the patient has had a history of neck X-rays as a child.

Typically, nodules are tested via a biopsy or an ultrasound scan, but surgery is often utilized because the other tests are not 100 percent accurate, Salvatore said.

Earlier this month, the vice president, the front-runner for the Democratic 2000 presidential nomination, released medical records that showed he is in good health.

CNN White House Correspondent Chris Black and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tuesday, December 28, 1999

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