Keywords:
Metastases, Endocrine disorders, Cancer, Sampling, Efficacy studies, Biopsy, Ultrasound-Colour Doppler, Ultrasound, Thyroid / Parathyroids, Lymph nodes, Head and neck
Authors:
M. G. Gkeli1, M. Milatou2, K. Kavvadias1; 1Athens/GR, 2SERRES/GR
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2013/C-1672
Conclusion
Early detection of metastatic lymph nodes is of great clinical importance because it enables more successful surgical results and radiation therapy treatment outcomes in a balanced decision between the need for achieving local radical excision,
correct disease staging,
and reducing the risk of complications (2-5,
14).
Sonography itself cannot distinguish benign from malignant nodes in patients with thyroid malignancy,
especially if the nodes are small and unpalpable.
However,
U/S appearance suggests malignancy and helps in the selection of the node for Rt-Ug-FNNAC,
which is crucial for a final diagnosis (6-8,
15).
Therefore,
patients with the diagnosis of DTC need preoperative Rt-Ug-FNNAC of suspicious nodes to avoid under-treating cases scheduled for TT (10).
Furthermore,
for the postoperative follow up of patients with treated DTC,
U/S evaluation of the neck in conjunction with Rt-Ug-FNNAC of suspicious nodes is recommended (11,
13,
14).
Rt-Ug-FNNAC is a safe and efficient tool for diagnosing the presence of occult metastatic cervical lymphadenopathy in patients with thyroid malignancy either preoperatively or postoperatively even in cases without clinical known recurrent or residual thyroid cancer and may obviate either unnecessary radical lymph node dissection or an excisional biopsy.