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Updated: Apr 14, 2026
Transoral Robotic Total Thyroidectomy and Bilateral Central Regional Lymph Node Dissection for Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma
Published on: September 15, 2023
Impact of tumor size on subclinical central lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma depends on age
Ju-Yeon Kim1, Eun Jung Jung2, Taejin Park3
1Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, 90 Chilamdong, Jinju, 660-702, Korea. juyeon0910@hanmail.net.
Background:
The aim of this study is to evaluate whether the associations between clinicopathologic factors of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC), especially tumor size, and subclinical central lymph node metastasis (LNM) are dependent on patient age.
Methods:
The medical records of 428 patients who underwent thyroid surgery for PTC measuring ≤1 cm were reviewed. All patients were clinically lymph node negative and underwent thyroidectomy with unilateral or bilateral central lymph node dissection. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify clinicopathologic factors associated with central LNM.
Results:
Central LNM was identified in 96 of 428 (22.4%) patients. Mean tumor size was significantly greater in patients with than without central LNM (0.74 ± 0.22 cm vs. 0.64 ± 0.23 cm, P = 0.001). Tumor size > 0.5 cm was significantly predictive of central LNM. Subgroup analysis according to age groups showed that tumor size was an independent predictor of subclinical central LNM only in patients aged ≥45 years.
Conclusions:
Factors predictive of central LNM in patients with PTMC differed by age. PTMC size was an independent predictor of subclinical central LNM only in patients aged ≥45 years.
