Extent of thyroid surgery for clinically node-negative papillary thyroid carcinoma with confirmed nodal metastases after prophylactic central neck dissection: a 15-year experience in a single center

摘要

The use of prophylactic central neck dissection (PCND) and the extent of thyroid surgery in clinically node-negative (cN0) papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) are controversial. This study aimed to investigate whether the extent of thyroid surgery influences the prognosis of patients with PTC with central lymph node metastasis (N1a), which was cN0 but pathologically confirmed after PCND.