The incidence of thyroid papillary cancer in contralateral lobe

Introduction: Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is usually associated an excellent prognosis and greater than ۹۰% survival rate at ۱۰ years. Papillary thyroid cancer may be diagnosed with histological examination in patients who underwent lobectomy. The necessity of performing a completion thyroidectomy (CT) is still a controversial issue. This study investigated the rate of contrary PTC in patients, who had completion thyroidectomy. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical and pathologic data of ۸۲ patients with PTC. These patients underwent thyroid lobectomy, followed by completion thyroidectomy during ۱۹۹۷-۲۰۰۷. Results:  Thirty tree patients (۴۰%) had PTC in the contrary lobe. There were no significant differences between patients with or without contrary disease with sex, age, primary tumor size or time to completion thyroidectomy. The presence of lymph node metastases and multifocality of cancer in the ipsilateral lobe increased risk of residual disease in contrary lobe. The postoperative complication were infrequent and included: ۶ (۳.۷%) patients with transient recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy, ۲ (۲.۵%) patients with permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy palsy, ۹ (۱۱%) patients with transient hypocalcemia and ۱ (۱.۲%) patient with permanent hypoparathyroidism also there were hematoma in ۵ (۶%) patients that in ۲ patients required re-exploration. Conclusion: The prevalence of residual disease in the contra lateral lobe of patients with PTC is significant. We believe that a completion thyroidectomy should be considered for PTC treatment. Completion thyroidectomy can be done safely with acceptable morbidity.

Keywords:

Papillary thyroid cancer , Completion thyroidectomy , Incidence of cancer in contra lateral lobe