Ultrasonographic findings relating to lymph node metastasis in single micropapillary thyroid cancer

Abstract

BackgroundIn thyroid cancer, preoperative ultrasonography (US) is performed to detect the primary tumor and lymph node metastasis (LNM), which are related to prognosis. This study examined the relationships between specific US findings and LNM in micropapillary thyroid cancer (MPTC).MethodsData on 220 patients with solitary MPTC who underwent total thyroidectomy and neck dissection between 2008 and 2009 were evaluated retrospectively. We classified the US findings according to the nature, shape, echogenicity, extent, margin, and calcification of the primary tumor and evaluated the correlations between these findings and those of LNM.ResultsHypoechogenicity (odds ratio = 2.331, P = 0.025) and marked hypoechogenicity (OR = 4.032, P = 0.016) of MPTC were risk factors for central LNM. All of the patients with lateral cervical LNM showed hypoechogenicity or marked hypoechogenicity. Hypoechogenicity (odds ratio = 5.349, P = 0.047) and other types of calcification (odds ratio = 2.495, P = 0.010) were significant risk factors for lateral cervical LNM.ConclusionsSpecific sonographic findings (hypoechogenicity or marked hypoechogenicity, and calcification) suggest LNM.

The relevance of preoperative ultrasound cervical mapping in patients with thyroid cancer

“…1). 1,6,19,23,24 In our study, we considered a node to be suspicious if at least 1 of these criteria was met. As for loss of hilar echogenicity on nodes smaller than 5 mm, an additional criterion was needed to reach the level of suspicious LN.…”

“…1 Despite a high survival rate (5-and 10-year overall survival of 90% and 95%, respectively 4 ), about 20%-50% of patients require additional treatments for lymph node (LN) metastasis. [4][5][6] In 80%-90% of patients, micrometastasis can be found with meticulous bilateral neck dissection. 1,5,7 Although cervical LN metastasis has almost no impact on short-term survival, it greatly affects long-term survival, as it is a major risk factor for locoregional tumour recurrence.…”

Utility of sentinel lymph node biopsy for thyroid cancer: a comprehensive review

“…High-resolution neck US has been studied extensively and has been reported to be the most sensitive method for diagnosing lymph node metastases in DTC patients [89]. US also has the advantage of being non-invasive and less time-consuming than SLNB [90]. It is able to detect lateral neck lymph node metastases with high sensitivity and specificity, including non-palpable metastases as small as 2-3 mm [27,89,91].…”

Frequency of Malignant Thyroid Pathology in Thyroidectomized Patients With Diagnosis of Multinodular Bocio

“…En la glándula tiroides se pueden producir tanto crecimientos y tumores; la mayoría suelen ser benignos, pero también debemos citar y tener en cuenta los malignos, es decir, los que se propagan a tejidos vecinos y a otras partes del cuerpo (4,11,17) .…”

“…El cáncer tiroideo tiene tres características importantes a tener en cuenta: bajo porcentaje de incidencia, bajo porcentaje de comportamiento maligno y bajo porcentaje de mortalidad. Generalmente se originan de bocios multinodulares de varios años de evolución dato importante a tener en cuenta para disminuir los factores que constituyen riesgos potenciales para la presentación del cáncer de tiroides (1,11) .…”