Macrometastasis in Papillary Thyroid Cancer Patients is Associated with Higher Recurrence in Lateral Neck Nodes

Background The use of routine central compartment neck dissection surgery for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is controversial. Although macroscopic central neck lymph node metastasis (CNLN) in PTC is a poor prognostic factor correlated with increased loco-regional recurrence, the significance of microscopic metastasis to the central lymph nodes is not established. Herein, we aimed to assess the influence of the size of CNLN on disease recurrence among PTC patients. Methods Data from 233 patients who underwent less than total thyroidectomy with CNLN dissection in 1989–1999 were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were assigned to three groups according to the central node metastasis: no metastasis (Group I), micrometastasis (