[Surgical treatment of papillary thyroid carcinoma--report of 437 cases]

Four hundred and thirty-seven patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma were treated from April 1963 to December 1989. The main treatment was surgery which was divided into 4 types: lobectomy combined with neck dissection (RND or MND); total thyroidectomy; isthmusectomy plus lobectomy; lobectomy combined with RND and then followed by contralateral MND. The 10-year survival rates of these four groups were 88.6%, 89.5%, 80% and 80%, respectively. The over-all 5-, 10- and 15-year survival rates were 92.7%, 87.9% and 79.4%. Lymph node metastasis was present in 80%. The authors believe that functional neck dissection is indicated if the number of lymph node is limited and the size is small.