Risk factors of post-surgery complications in children with thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer in children is a hot topic because of the large clinical heterogeneity and the risk of severe complications. We aimed to study 1. The frequency, 2. Etiology, and 3. Risk factors of post-surgery complications of thyroid cancer.

A retrospective analysis including risk factors for post-surgery complications of patients treated for thyroid malignancies in years 2006-2018 was performed.

Over a period of 12 years 22 patients with thyroid malignancy (68% female; 12.6 ± 4.0 years of age, median follow-up 6 years) were identified. Histologically, 12 (55%) patients had papillary carcinoma. Six patients (27.3%) had multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN2) syndrome, 3 (13.7%) patients had medullary carcinoma and 1 patient had follicular carcinoma. Neck lymph node metastases were diagnosed in 8 (36.4%), distant metastases in 6 (27.3%), and both locations were involved in 4 (18.2%) patients. Six (27.3%) children had surgical complications: 1 child had unilateral vocal cord paralysis and transient hypoparathyroidism and 5 had transient hypoparathyroidism. The higher risk of surgery complications in forward stepwise logistic regression was associated in with distant metastases (R2 = 0.584, OR 52.63, p = 0.010).

Postoperative complications were significantly associated with presence of distant metastases. Favorable results were observed in with children with MEN2 syndrome.