[Differentiated thyroid carcinoma in children: study of 80 cases].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The objective was to analyze the clinical profile of Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma in children (DTC) and the predisposing factors to suffering the disease.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: Eighty children with DTC were studied retrospectively. They all underwent total/near total thyroidectomy and 75 cases underwent ablative iodine therapy. Patients were controlled periodically with clinical, laboratory and imaging tests follow-up.

RESULTS: Twenty eight patients were male and 52 female (mean age: 13.43+/-3.6 y). The 87.5% of patients had an increased cervical perimeter as the first clinical symptom, 65% of them corresponding to a thyroid nodule with a predominance of females. The papillary histological pattern was more frequent than the follicular pattern, and it was associated with the presence of lymph involvement and metastasis. About 56.4% of patients showed advanced disease at the time of diagnosis. 9 patients had previous irradiation. Surgical complications appeared in 32.5% of patients. At the end of follow-up (mean: 10.79+/-5.69 y) 9 patients had persistent disease with a significant relation with stage 4.

CONCLUSIONS: DTC presents a higher incidence in females than in males. Cervical node is the most frequent form of initial presentation. The papillary type is more prevalent than the follicular type, and it is frequently associated with lymph node involvement and metastatic spread.