The Effect of Thyroiditis on the Yield of Central Compartment Lymph Nodes in Patients with Papillary Thyroid Cancer

In patients who have undergone thyroidectomy and central compartment neck dissection (CCND) for papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), visualization of enlarged lymph nodes may lead to more extensive CCND. This study sought to determine the effect of patient age and the presence of thyroiditis on the number of malignant and total lymph nodes resected in patients who underwent CCND for PTC.

This retrospective review examined a prospective database of patients who underwent total thyroidectomy and CCND for PTC between April 2009 and June 2013 and had thyroiditis on the final pathology. The patients were categorized into age groups by decade (18-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, and ≥60 years) and compared with a control group of patients matched by age, gender, and tumor size.

Of 74 patients with thyroiditis, 64 (87 %) were women. The median age of the patients was 47.5 years (range 18.2-72.0 years). The patients with thyroiditis had more lymph nodes resected than those without thyroiditis (median 11 vs 7; p < 0.01). However, these patients had fewer malignant lymph nodes (median 0 vs 1.5; p = 0.06), resulting in a lower lymph node ratio (0 vs 0.18; p = 0.02) for the entire cohort, but particularly for the youngest (18-29 years) and oldest (≥60 years) age groups.

Patients with thyroiditis and PTC who underwent CCND had more lymph nodes resected but a had lower proportion of metastatic lymph nodes than those without thyroiditis. Given the relatively low yield of malignant cervical lymphadenopathy, a more judicious approach to CCND might be considered, particularly for the youngest and oldest patients with PTC and thyroiditis.