title: Roles of ultrasonography and computed tomography in the surgical management of cervical lymph node metastases in papillary thyroid carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Adequate evaluation and surgical management of cervical lymph node metastasis is very important in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of preoperative ultrasonography (US) and computed tomography (CT) on the surgical management of cervical lymph node metastases in PTC.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical records and imaging findings were retrospectively analyzed for 252 patients with PTC who underwent thyroidectomy with neck dissection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sensitivity of both imaging techniques was lower in the central neck (US 23%, CT 41%) than in the lateral neck (US 70%, CT 82%). The specificities of US and CT were 97% and 90% in the central neck, and 84% and 64% in the lateral neck, respectively. Our surgical plans for therapeutic neck dissection were based on imaging findings in 59% of patients who underwent lateral compartment neck dissection and in 32.1% of patients who underwent central compartment neck dissection, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The roles of preoperative US and CT in surgical planning for central compartment neck dissection in PTC are limited because of their low sensitivity in the central neck, but US and CT may be useful in cases with non-palpable lateral neck nodes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 133-792, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Y B
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Y J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tae
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D037981:Neck Dissection; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010173:Palpation; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D000077273:Thyroid Cancer, Papillary; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013965:Thyroidectomy / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014463:Ultrasonography