Prevalence of Central Compartment Lymph Node Metastases in Papillary Thyroid Micro-Carcinoma: A Retrospective Evaluation of Predictive Preoperative Features

Abstract

Papillary thyroid micro-carcinomas are considered relatively indolent carcinomas, often occult and incidental, with good prognosis and favorable outcomes. Despite these findings, central lymph node metastases are common, and are related to a poor prognosis for the patient. We performed a retrospective analysis on patients treated with surgery for stage pT1a papillary thyroid micro-carcinomas. One hundred ninety-five patients were included in the analyses. The presence of central lymph node metastases was identified and studied. A multivariate analysis employing binary logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals of possible central lymph node metastases risk factors. In the performed multivariate analysis, male gender, younger age, and histopathological characteristics, such as a tumor sub-capsular localization, were significantly associated with central lymph node metastases in pT1a patients. Central compartment lymph node metastases are present in a non-negligible number of cases in patients with papillary thyroid micro-carcinoma undergoing surgical resection. Studying these factors could be an effective tool for predicting patients' central lymph node metastases in papillary thyroid micro-carcinomas, defining a tailored surgical treatment in the future.

Keywords: central lymph node metastases; papillary thyroid carcinomas; prophylactic central neck dissection; thyroid micro-carcinoma.