Linlin Song1, Junyi Zhou2, Wenjie Chen3, Genpeng Li4, Zhaohui Wang5, Gang Xue6, Jian Wu7, Hongli Yan8, Jianyong Lei9, Jingqiang Zhu10. 1. Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Laboratory of Thyroid and Parathyroid Disease, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, China. Electronic address: surgeonlin@126.com. 2. Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China. Electronic address: zhoujunyidoc@163.com. 3. Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China. Electronic address: chenbbcc0202@163.com. 4. Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China. Electronic address: ligenpeng11@163.com. 5. Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, China. Electronic address: wzhscszlyy@163.com. 6. The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, China. Electronic address: xgjqzyy@163.com. 7. The Chengdu Third People's Hospital, China. Electronic address: wjcdsrmdsyy@163.com. 8. The Chengdu First People's Hospital, China. Electronic address: yhlcdsrmdyyy@163.com. 9. Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China. Electronic address: leijianyong11@163.com. 10. Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China. Electronic address: zjqdoctor@163.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The lymph nodes between the sternocleidomastoid and sternohyoid muscle (LNSS) are not explicitly mentioned in the 2015 American Thyroid Association and 2008 American Head and Neck Society (AHNS) guidelines, but they are easily overlooked in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). We prospectively evaluated the clinical significance of the LNSS in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients. METHOD: In five medical centers, two hundred and thirty-four PTC patients with lateral neck metastasis who underwent 264 neck dissection were enrolled in this study. LNSS was resected and used as a specimen to investigate the relationship of LNSS with several clinicopathological parameters. RESULT: Of the 264 lateral neck dissections, the average lymph node metastasis rate of LNSS was 23.48%, significantly second only to that in level III (p<0.05). Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that a patient age over 45 years (OR 2.155, 95% CI 1.191 to 3.898, p = 0.011), with a tumor located in the inferior lobe of the thyroid (OR 1.517, 95% CI 1.113 to 2.068, p = 0.008), and LN metastasis at levels IIb (OR 2.298, 95% CI 1.121 to 4.712, p = 0.020) and level III (OR 2.408, 95% CI 1.222 to 4.745, p = 0.011) were independent risk factors for LNSS lymphatic metastasis. CONCLUSION: The LNSS has a high metastatic rate and is easily overlooked. Additional attention should be paid to LNSS, especially in patients over 45 years old and with PTC located in the thyroid's inferior lobe.
BACKGROUND: The lymph nodes between the sternocleidomastoid and sternohyoid muscle (LNSS) are not explicitly mentioned in the 2015 American Thyroid Association and 2008 American Head and Neck Society (AHNS) guidelines, but they are easily overlooked in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). We prospectively evaluated the clinical significance of the LNSS in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients. METHOD: In five medical centers, two hundred and thirty-four PTC patients with lateral neck metastasis who underwent 264 neck dissection were enrolled in this study. LNSS was resected and used as a specimen to investigate the relationship of LNSS with several clinicopathological parameters. RESULT: Of the 264 lateral neck dissections, the average lymph node metastasis rate of LNSS was 23.48%, significantly second only to that in level III (p<0.05). Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that a patient age over 45 years (OR 2.155, 95% CI 1.191 to 3.898, p = 0.011), with a tumor located in the inferior lobe of the thyroid (OR 1.517, 95% CI 1.113 to 2.068, p = 0.008), and LN metastasis at levels IIb (OR 2.298, 95% CI 1.121 to 4.712, p = 0.020) and level III (OR 2.408, 95% CI 1.222 to 4.745, p = 0.011) were independent risk factors for LNSS lymphatic metastasis. CONCLUSION: The LNSS has a high metastatic rate and is easily overlooked. Additional attention should be paid to LNSS, especially in patients over 45 years old and with PTC located in the thyroid's inferior lobe.