Lymphovascular invasion is associated with lateral cervical lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this retrospective study to evaluate whether lymphovascular invasion (LVI) is associated with lateral cervical lymph node metastasis and tumor recurrence in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).


METHODS
We evaluated the medical records of patients with PTC who had undergone total thyroidectomy and subsequent I remnant ablation at Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea, from January 1997 thorough December 2000.


RESULTS
A total of 662 patients (585 women and 77 men; mean age, 44.8 years) with PTC were enrolled in the study. Of these patients, 33 were found to have LVI. We found a significant association between LVI and lateral cervical lymph node metastasis at the time of initial surgery (P = .001). Multivariate analyses adjusting for clinicopathologic parameters known to predict recurrence such as age, gender, tumor size, extrathyroid extension, and multifocality also showed a significant association between LVI and lateral cervical lymph node metastasis. For the 633 patients without distant metastasis at the time of initial surgery, LVI was also significantly associated with tumor recurrence during the follow-up period (median, 68 months; range, 3-108 months): 29% versus 13.6% for patients with and without LVI, respectively (P = .048 by log-rank test). However, this association was lost on multivariate analyses adjusting for conventional clinicopathologic predictors of recurrence.


CONCLUSIONS
In patients with PTC, LVI is associated with lateral cervical lymph node metastasis and clinical recurrence.
Kim
Jung Min
JM
Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Kim
Tae Yong
TY
Kim
Won Bae
WB
Gong
Gyungyup
G
Kim
Seong Chul
SC
Hong
Suck Joon
SJ
Shong
Young Kee
YK
D000328:Adult; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*