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The utility of intra‐operative frozen section for the evaluation of microscopic extrathyroidal extension in papillary thyroid carcinoma
Author(s) -
Hong J.C.,
Seo J.W.,
Jang A.L.,
Suh S.H.,
Pak M.G.,
Han S.H.,
Park Y.J.,
Lee D.K.,
Park H.S.,
Kang M.K.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
clinical otolaryngology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.914
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1749-4486
pISSN - 1749-4478
DOI - 10.1111/coa.12843
Subject(s) - medicine , frozen section procedure , thyroid carcinoma , thyroid , retrospective cohort study , thyroidectomy , carcinoma , lymph node , biopsy , group b , surgery , radiology
Objectives This study was designed to evaluate the usefulness of intra‐operative frozen section for the evaluation of microscopic extrathyroidal extension ( ETE ) in papillary thyroid carcinoma ( PTC ). Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Dong‐A University Medical Center, Busan, Korea. Participants Three hundred and sixty‐four patients who underwent thyroid surgery from January 2000 to December 2010 with PTC confined to one unilateral lobe as diagnosed using preoperative ultrasonography were enrolled. Main outcome measures The patients who had microscopic ETE on frozen section were classified into “group A,” and those who did not have microscopic ETE on frozen section were classified into “group B.” Clinicopathologic factors including age, gender, size of the tumour, extent of operation, ETE , multifocality, bilaterality, lymph node metastasis and recurrence were compared between the two groups. Results Of the 364 patients enrolled, ETE was confirmed in 100 patients (group A, 27.5%) on frozen biopsy. The nodule size in group A (0.94±0.87 cm) was larger than that in group B (0.86±0.79 cm) ( P =.042). In group A, 15 patients (15%) showed multifocality and 11 patients (14.47%) showed bilaterality. In group B, 37 patients (14.02%) showed multifocality and seven patients (43.35%) showed bilaterality. They did not differ significantly between the two groups ( P =.811, P =.182). There was a higher frequency of lymph node metastases in group A (52/86, 60.47%) than in group B (7/16, 43.75%, P =.214). Recurrence was observed in only two patients who had received thyroid lobectomy as the initial surgery in group A. Conclusions Intra‐operative frozen biopsy can be a useful method for identifying the microscopic ETE . During the surgery, it can also help the surgeon to decide the optimal extent of surgery and the need for central compartment neck dissection in PTC patients.