Predictors of bilateral central neck lymph node dissection in unilateral papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Abstract

e17012 Background: Study the predictors of bilateral central neck lymph node dissection (CND) in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Methods: A total of 322 patients (67 males and 265 females) with unilateral PTC who underwent total thyroidectomy (TT) and bilateral CND from West China Hospital of Sichuan University from June 2008 to June 2011were analyzed retrospectively. The median age at diagnosis was 43.3±12.7 years (ranging from 8 to 79 years). All patients had a preoperative diagnosis of PTC without clinically evident positive lymph nodes (LN) by ultrasonography, and 160 patients had underwent modified radicalneck dissection (MRND) at the same time. Results: One hundred and ninety-one (57.5%) of 332 patients had central neck lymph node metastatic including123 ipsilateral and 68 bilateral. CND upstage 76 patients in the present cohort, and modified the indication for radioiodine treatment in 20% of patients initially staged as T1N0.The bilateral central neck lymph node(CLN) metastases was significantly...