KBB-Forum 2019 , Cilt 18, Sayı 3

WHAT ARE CLINIC and HISTOPATHOLOGIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN INCIDENTAL and NON-INCIDENTAL PAPILLARY THYROID CARCİNOMA

Dr. Bülent ÖCAL
1Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, KBB Kliniği, Ankara, Türkiye Aim: The term "papillary thyroid microcarcinoma"(PTMC) refers to a cancer measuring 1.0 cm or less in diameter. Two types of microcarcinomas were designated as "incidental" and "non-incidental", and the objective of this study was to assess for differences in tumor characteristics.

Material and Method: A total of 987 patients who underwent thyroidectomy and/or neck dissection for papillary thyroid carcinoma from 2009 to 2017 were reviewed retrospectively. Of these 252 patients with PTMC were included in the study.

Results: Incidental and non-incidental groups consisted of 93 (%36.9) and 159 (%63.1) patients, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that the mean age of the patients was lower (42.97 vs. 50.60, p<0.001), the largest tumor focus was bigger (6.8mm vs 3.8mm, p<0.001) and the incidence of central lymph node metastasis was higher (%28.8 vs %0, p<0.01) in the non-incidental group than that in the incidental group.

Conclusion: Despite the indolent nature and the favourable prognosis of patients with PTMC, some of them may represent aggressive biological behaviours that possibly lead to local recurrences in the future. Therefore, it is important to differentiate between both types of PTMC while tailoring follow-up. Keywords : Incidental, papillary thyroid microcarcinoma