Possible prediction of patterns of cervical lymph node spread based on primary tumor location in papillary thyroid carcinomas

Abstract

Backround/aim: Papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC) frequently metastasize to regional lymph nodes. Our purpose was to investigatethe predictive role of tumor location for lymph node metastasis pattern in PTCs.Materials and methods: Medical records of 110 PTC patients were reviewed retrospectively. Tumor location was determined as upper,middle, and lower pole according to ultrasonography (USG) findings. The effects of age, sex, tumor size, and location on lymph nodemetastasis were investigated.Results: The series comprised 87% females (n = 96) and 13% males (n = 14). Forty-three patients had central neck metastasis (CNM)and 14 had lateral neck metastasis (LNM). Upper pole tumors (UPT) metastasized to the central neck (CN) at a lower rate (17.6%)than middle (40.0%) or lower (48.5%) poles overall (P = 0.104), while it was at a significantly lower rate (13.3%) in the PTC group (P