Intraoperative ultrasonography is useful in surgical management of neck metastases in differentiated thyroid cancers

• Published in: Endocrine 2015-02, Vol.48 (1), p.248-253
• Main Authors: Ertas, Burak, Kaya, Hakan, Kurtulmus, Neslihan, Yakupoglu, Abdullah, Giray, Serdar, Unal, Omer Faruk, Duren, Mete
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Child; Diabetes; Endocrinology; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Head and Neck Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Head and Neck Neoplasms - secondary; Head and Neck Neoplasms - surgery; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Internal Medicine; Intraoperative Period; Lymph Nodes - diagnostic imaging; Lymphatic Metastasis - diagnostic imaging; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Neck Dissection - methods; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - diagnostic imaging; Original Article; Retrospective Studies; Science; Thyroid Neoplasms - pathology; Thyroidectomy; Ultrasonography; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1355-008X; 1559-0100
• DOI: 10.1007/s12020-014-0287-x

Differentiated thyroid carcinomas are the most common malignancies of endocrine organs. Metastases to cervical lymph nodes occur in 20–50 % of cases. Recurrence and survival rates are closely related to the type of surgery performed. High-resolution ultrasonography (USG) is a sensitive imaging method used to detect occult lymph node metastases in patients with thyroid cancer. We evaluated how intraoperative USG affected surgical success. This was a retrospective study comparing two groups of patients with thyroid carcinoma who underwent cervical lymph node dissection. A total of 101 patients (33 males and 68 females) were included. Group 1 included 53 patients who underwent surgery with intraoperative USG guidance. Group 2 included 48 patients who underwent surgery without the use of USG. All patients were followed up (mean 23 months; range 5–44 months) with thyroglobulin measurements and USG evaluations. Group 1 (intraoperative USG) had a residual/recurrent tumor rate of 1.9 % (1/53 patients). Group 2 had a residual/recurrent tumor rate of 12.5 % (6/48 patients). A statistically significant difference appeared between the residual/recurrent tumor rates in Groups 1 and 2 ( p