[Salvage surgery of thyroid carcinoma in advanced stage with common carotid artery involvement]

To investigate the feasibility of salvage surgery of thyroid carcinoma in advanced stage with common carotid artery involvement.

Reviewed 4 cases of advanced-stage thyroid carcinoma treated in the Department of Otolaryngology, West China hospital from July 2006 to September 2009. CT revealed that the common carotid artery entrapped in the tumor without obvious anatomical space. 2 cases were proved to be low-differentiated squamous carcinoma pathologically and the rest 2 cases were papillary carcinoma. Total thyroidectomy, total laryngectomy and bilateral neck dissection were performed in 3 cases while in one case, total thyroidectomy, bilateral neck dissection and partial tracheal resection being performed. Adjacent prepared cervico-pectoral flap was used to reconstruct the defect of cervico-thoracic trachea. Rupture of common carotid artery in one case took place and was repaired by mere suture. One case of low differentiated squamous carcinoma was given postoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy while the rest 3 cases given no adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The follow-up time lasted from half a year to 2 years.

Half a year postoperatively, the low-differentiated squamous carcinoma patient not receiving postoperative chemoradiotherapy suffered from lumber spinal metastasis, one year after operation he was still alive and half a year later lost follow-up, the other 3 patients were alive from half a year to 2 years postoperatively without any obvious clue of recurrence or remote metastasis.

Salvage surgery is still feasible in thyroid carcinoma in advanced stage with common carotid artery involvement. The larynx and trachea should be kept intact as possible but the reconstruction of the trachea defect is recommended to be less prior in the situation when carotid artery is involved in.