High Risk of Lateral Nodal Metastasis in Lateral Solitary Solid Papillary Thyroid Cancer

We explored the relationship between ultrasonic intra-thyroidal location and neck node metastasis pattern in solitary solid papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Data on 186 patients were retrospectively reviewed. The association between several characteristics and neck node metastasis pattern were analyzed. Among the 186 thyroid nodules, age ≥45 y (p = 0.005), mass size ≥2 cm (p = 0.001), presence of calcifications (p < 0.001) and lateral nodal metastasis (p = 0.001) were significantly related to central nodal metastasis in multivariate analysis. Mass size ≥2 cm (p = 0.046) and central nodal metastasis (p = 0.002) were significantly related to lateral nodal metastasis in multivariate analysis. Location of an intra-thyroidal solitary solid PTC located non-adjacent to the trachea (lateral) was significantly related to lateral nodal metastasis (p = 0.043) compared with location of an intra-thyroidal solitary solid PTC adjacent to the trachea (medial or isthmus). Lateral lesions have a high risk of lateral nodal metastasis in solitary solid PTC.