The impact of the number of harvested central lymph nodes on the lymph node ratio

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P><B>Objective</B></P> <P>The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of lymph node harvest on the lymph node ratio (LNR).</P> <P><B>Methods</B></P> <P>We retrospectively reviewed 106 patients diagnosed preoperatively with PTMC (papillary thyroid microcarcinoma), no evidence of central or lateral neck nodal metastasis, and who underwent a total thyroidectomy and bilateral central lymph node neck dissection (CND).</P> <P><B>Results</B></P> <P>The median number of retrieved lymph nodes in the central compartments was 7±6.59 (range: 1–42). The mean number of metastatic lymph nodes in the central compartments on pathology was 1.1±1.79 (range: 0–7). The high node volume group (>7) had a significantly higher rate of central lymph node (CLN) metastasis than the low node volume group (≤7) in the final pathologic report (<I>p </I><0.001). With the linear regression method, the number of CLN metastasis increased as the number of retrieved lymph nodes increased (correlation coefficient=0.286, <I>p</I> <I>=</I> 0.003). The multivariate analysis confirmed the number of retrieved lymph nodes in the central compartments was a risk factor for high LNR (<I>p</I> =0.008, odds ratio 3.737). The rates of vocal fold palsy and hypoparathyroidism did not differ according to the number of retrieved lymph nodes.</P> <P><B>Conclusion</B></P> <P>The lymph node ratio in the final pathologic report is larger when a greater number of lymph nodes are retrieved during the central compartment neck dissection.</P>