Preoperative lateral neck ultrasonography as a long-term outcome predictor in papillary thyroid cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term outcomes and prognostic value of our sonographically based surgical approach to the lateral neck for recurrences in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC).

DESIGN: Retrospective medical chart review.

SETTING: Tertiary cancer institution.

PATIENTS: The study population comprised 331 consecutive patients primarily treated for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) at a tertiary cancer institution between 1996 and 2003. The lateral neck compartments were surgically addressed only in the presence of abnormalities on ultrasonography (US).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Recurrence-free interval and overall, disease-specific, and recurrence-free survival.

RESULTS: There were 112 male and 219 female patients, with a median age of 44.7 years (range, 11-87 years). The median follow-up time for the series was 77.9 months (range, 12.7-148.7 months). Preoperative US abnormalities were found in the right neck in 13.3%, in the left neck in 12.3%, and bilaterally in 11.2%; all of these patients underwent a lateral neck dissection at the time of the thyroidectomy. There were 11 recurrences in the series (0.3%), with a median time to presentation of 22.8 months (range, 6.0-55.3 months). Predictors of lateral neck disease-free interval were T stage and distant disease at presentation (P = .01 and P < .001, respectively) and the sonographic status of the ipsilateral and central neck (P = .001 and P < .001). The number of abnormal neck compartments in US correlated with the risk of regional failure (P = .01). The presence of US abnormalities in the lateral neck decreased the 10-year disease-specific survival from 98.3% to 66.9% (P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative US is an excellent outcome predictor for lateral neck disease-free interval and for disease-specific survival in PTC. Sonographically based surgical approach provides excellent long-term regional control and validates current treatment guidelines.