Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2026
Computer-Aided Three-Dimensional Visualization in the Treatment of Locally Advanced Thyroid Cancer
Published on: June 9, 2023
The sensitivity of preoperative scanning in regional recurrence of papillary thyroid cancer
Avi Khafif1, Rami Ben-Yosef, Ada Kesler
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel. avironit@bezeqint.net
Background:
The treatment of patients with regionally recurrent papillary carcinoma of the thyroid is a matter of controversy. Radioactive nodal picking was proposed as an alternative to neck dissection in these patients.
Methods:
We analyzed neck dissection specimens in 20 patients with PTC and compared the results to preoperative total-body scan (TBS) following a therapeutic dose of I(131)and ultrasonographic findings.
Results:
Eighteen patients underwent paratracheal neck dissection and 10 patients had a lateral neck dissection. Preoperative TBS detected the correct number of positive nodes in only 1 patient (5%) and the correct number of patients with positive nodes in 6/20 (30%) of the patients. US detected 32/98 positive nodes (36%) and 20/20 (100%) of the patients. Prediction of the number of positive nodes for both TBS and US was low (5% and 10%, respectively).
Conclusions:
Preoperative TBS and/or US cannot satisfactorily predict metastatic lymph node involvement and cannot safely delineate limited surgery to replace formal neck dissection in patients with regionally recurrent PTC.
