Kresimira Milas MD

Director of the Thyroid Center and Associate Professor of Surgery

Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland, OH

Kresimira Milas MD is a member of the EndocrineWeb Editorial Board.
She is a Senior Editor and oversees the thyroid section of EndocrineWeb.

Kresimira (Mira) Milas, MD is director of the Thyroid Center, associate professor of surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, and a staff surgeon in the Cleveland Clinic Department of Endocrine Surgery. She received her medical degree from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, and her residency was in general surgery at Emory University.

Dr. Milas did two fellowships: one in endocrine surgery at Emory University Hospitals and School of Medicine, and another in surgical oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Milas’ specialty interests include the entire spectrum of thyroid and parathyroid diseases and surgery, thyroid cancer, and adrenal diseases.

She is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons, the American Thyroid Association, and the Endocrine Society.

Publications / Bibliography:

Milas M, Barbosa GF, Mitchell J, Berber E, Siperstein A, Gupta M. Effectiveness of peripheral thyrotropin receptor mRNA in follow-up of differentiated thyroid cancer. Ann Surg Oncol 2009 Feb;16(2):473-480.

Mitchell J, Barbosa G, Tsinberg M, Milas M, Siperstein A, Berber E. Unrecognized adrenal insufficiency in patients undergoing laparoscopic adrenalectomy. Surg Endosc 2009 Feb;23(2):248-254.

Ritter HE, Milas M. Bilateral parathyroid exploration for hyperparathyroidism. Operative Techniques in Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery 2009. Mar;20(1):44-53.

Skugor M, Milas M. Hypercalcemia.In: Carey WD, ed. Current clinical medicine 2009. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders/Elsevier; 2009. p. 381-386.

Ballem N, Greene AB, Parikh RT, Berber E, Siperstein A, Milas M. Appreciation of osteoporosis among men with hyperparathyroidism. Endocr Pract 2008 Oct;14(7):820-831.

Barbosa GF, Milas M. Peripheral thyrotropin receptor mRNA as a novel marker for differentiated thyroid cancer diagnosis and surveillance. Expert Rev Anticancer Ther 2008 Sep;8(9):1415-1424.

Berber E, Parikh RT, Ballem N, Garner CN, Milas M, Siperstein AE. Factors contributing to negative parathyroid localization: an analysis of 1000 patients. Surgery 2008 Jul;144(1):74-79.

Lo HW, Stephenson L, Cao X, Milas M, Pollock R, Ali-Osman F. Identification and functional characterization of the human glutathione S-transferase P1 gene as a novel transcriptional target of the p53 tumor suppressor gene. Mol Cancer Res 2008 May;6(5):843-850.

Mazzaglia PJ, Berber E, Kovach A, Milas M, Esselstyn C, Siperstein AE. The changing presentation of hyperparathyroidism over 3 decades. Arch Surg 2008 Mar;143(3):260-266.

Mitchell J, Milas M, Barbosa G, Sutton J, Berber E, Siperstein A. Avoidable reoperations for thyroid and parathyroid surgery: Effect of hospital volume. Surgery 2008 Dec;144(6):899-907.

Sharma J, Milas M, Berber E, Mazzaglia P, Siperstein A, Weber CJ. Value of intraoperative parathyroid hormone monitoring. Ann Surg Oncol 2008 Feb;15(2):493-498.

Siperstein A, Berber E, Barbosa GF, Tsinberg M, Greene AB, Mitchell J, Milas M. Predicting the success of limited exploration for primary hyperparathyroidism using ultrasound, sestamibi, and intraoperative parathyroid hormone: analysis of 1158 cases. Ann Surg 2008 Sep;248(3):420-428.

Chia SY, Milas M, Reddy SK, Siperstein A, Skugor M, Brainard J, Gupta MK. Thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor messenger ribonucleic acid measurement in blood as a marker for circulating thyroid cancer cells and its role in the preoperative diagnosis of thyroid cancer. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2007 Feb;92(2):468-475.

Garner CN, Ganetzky R, Brainard J, Hammel JP, Berber E, Siperstein AE, Milas M. Increased prevalence of breast cancer among patients with thyroid and parathyroid disease. Surgery 2007 Dec;142(6):806-813.

Heald B, Moran R, Milas M, Burke C, Eng C. Familial adenomatous polyposis in a patient with unexplained mental retardation. Nat Clin Pract Neurol 2007 Dec;3(12):694-700.

Mazzaglia PJ, Berber E, Milas M, Siperstein AE. Laparoscopic radiofrequency ablation of neuroendocrine liver metastases: a 10-year experience evaluating predictors of survival. Surgery 2007 Jul;142(1):10-19.

Milas M, Mazzaglia P, Chia SY, Skugor M, Berber E, Reddy S, Gupta M, Siperstein A. The utility of peripheral thyrotropin mRNA in the diagnosis of follicular neoplasms and surveillance of thyroid cancers. Surgery 2007 Feb;141(2):137-146.

Milas M, Siperstein A. Introduction. Clinical Reviews in Bone and Mineral Metabolism 2007 Jun;5(2):73-74.

Sharma J, Mazzaglia P, Milas M, Berber E, Schuster DM, Halkar R, Siperstein A, Weber CJ. Radionuclide imaging for hyperparathyroidism (HPT): which is the best technetium-99m sestamibi modality? Surgery 2006 Dec;140(6):856-863.

Milas M, Mensah A, Alghoul M, Berber E, Stephen A, Siperstein A, Weber CJ. The impact of office neck ultrasonography on reducing unnecessary thyroid surgery in patients undergoing parathyroidectomy. Thyroid 2005 Sep;15(9):1055-1059.

Milas M, Stephen A, Berber E, Wagner K, Miskulin J, Siperstein A. Ultrasonography for the endocrine surgeon: A valuable clinical tool that enhances diagnostic and therapeutic outcomes. Surgery 2005 Dec;138(6):1193-1201.

Stephen AE, Milas M, Garner CN, Wagner KE, Siperstein AE. Use of surgeon-performed office ultrasound and parathyroid fine needle aspiration for complex parathyroid localization. Surgery 2005 Dec;138(6):1143-1150.

Wagner K, Arciaga R, Siperstein A, Milas M, Warshawsky I, Reddy SSK, Gupta MK. Thyrotropin receptor/thyroglobulin messenger ribonucleic acid in peripheral blood and fine-needle aspiration cytology: diagnostic synergy for detecting thyroid cancer. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2005 Apr;90(4):1921-1924.

Wojtowicz J, Milas M. Primary hyperparathyroidism in women: Medical and surgical treatments. Clinical Reviews in Bone and Mineral Metabolism 2005 Summer;3(2):143-147.

Milas M, Weber CJ. Near-total parathyroidectomy is beneficial for patients with secondary and tertiary hyperparathyroidism. Surgery 2004 Dec;136(6):1252-1260.

Siperstein A, Berber E, Mackey R, Alghoul M, Wagner K, Milas M. Prospective evaluation of sestamibi scan, ultrasonography, and rapid PTH to predict the success of limited exploration for sporadic primary hyperparathyroidism. Surgery 2004 Oct;136(4):872-880.

Skugor M, Milas M. Hypocalcemia.In: Carey WD, ed. The Cleveland Clinic disease management project [electronic resource].Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Clinic Center for Continuing Education; 2004.

Skugor M, Milas M. Hypercalcemia.In: Carey WD, ed. The Cleveland Clinic disease management project [electronic resource].Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Clinic Center for Continuing Education; 2004.

Stephen AE, Chen KT, Milas M, Siperstein AE. The coming of age of radiation-induced hyperparathyroidism: evolving patterns of thyroid and parathyroid disease after head and neck irradiation. Surgery 2004 Dec;136(6):1143-1153.

Cassarino DS, Milas M, Folpe AL. Bilateral intrathyroidal lymphoepithelial cysts. Arch Pathol Lab Med 2003 Feb;127(2):251-252.

Lin PH, Bush RL, Milas M, Terramani TT, Dodson TF, Chen C, Chaikof EL, Lumsden AB. Impact of an endovascular program on the operative experience of abdominal aortic aneurysm in vascular fellowship and general surgery residency. Am J Surg 2003 Aug;186(2):189-193.

Milas KM. Carcinoma of the head and neck.In: Feig BW, Berger DH, Fuhrman GM, eds. The M.D. Anderson surgical oncology handbook. 3rd ed.Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2003. Chapter 6. p. 109-123.

Milas L, Mason K, Liao Z, Raju U, Milas M, Husain A, Ang KK. Role of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and its inhibition in tumor biology and radiotherapy.In: Nieder C, Milas L, Ang KK, eds. Modification of radiation response: cytokines, growth factors, and other biological targets.Berlin ; New York: Springer; 2003. Chapter 18. p. 241-258.

Milas M, Bush RL, Lin P, Brown K, Mackay G, Lumsden A, Weber C, Dodson TF. Calciphylaxis and nonhealing wounds: the role of the vascular surgeon in a multidisciplinary treatment. J Vasc Surg 2003 Mar;37(3):501-507.

Milas M, Wagner K, Easley KA, Siperstein A, Weber CJ. Double adenomas revisited: Nonuniform distribution favors enlarged superior parathyroids (fourth pouch disease). Surgery 2003 Dec;134(6):995-1003.

Meric F, Hess KR, Varma DG, Hunt KK, Pisters PW, Milas KM, Patel SR, Benjamin RS, Plager C, Papadopoulos NE, Burgess MA, Pollock RE, Feig BW. Radiographic response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy is a predictor of local control and survival in soft tissue sarcomas. Cancer 2002 Sep 1;95(5):1120-1126.

Antithyroid Medications for Hyperthyroidism

Antithyroid medications—sometimes written as anti-thyroid medications—are a common treatment for hyperthyroidism, particularly if you have an ongoing form of hyperthyroidism caused by Graves' disease or a

Hyperthyroidism Complications

Untreated hyperthyroidism can lead to serious complications, mainly related to the heart. When you have hyperthyroidism, your body is, in a way, running on overdrive all the time, and that can greatly affect your heart. Some possible heart-related complications of uncontrolled hyperthyroidism are:

Radioactive Iodine for Hyperthyroidism

Radioactive iodine treats hyperthyroidism by gradually shrinking your thyroid—ultimately destroying the gland. This therapy is much safer than it sounds; in fact, it is the most commonly used hyperthyroid treatment in the US.

Surgery for Hyperthyroidism

Surgery is a treatment option for hyperthyroidism, but it's not as commonly used as antithyroid medications or radioactive iodine.

Hyperthyroidism Symptoms

When you have hyperthyroidism, your body is producing excessive amounts of the thyroid hormones T3 and T4. Since these hormones regulate your metabolism (how your body processes and uses energy), having too high a level will cause symptoms related to a high metabolism. In essence, hyperthyroidism speeds up some of your body's processes.

Treatments for Hyperthyroidism

There are a number of hyperthyroidism treatments available. The best plan for you depends on your symptoms, the cause of your hyperthyroidism, and what treatment option makes you most comfortable.