Table 1.
Baseline and surgical characteristics
| No. of patients* (n = 650) | |
|---|---|
| Age (years) † | 56·0 (43·0–66·0) |
| Sex ratio (M : F) | 245 : 405 |
| Primary tumour diagnosis | |
| MTC | 627 (96·5) |
| Other with MTC as secondary diagnosis | 18 (2·8) |
| Mixed MTC/FTC | 5 (0·8) |
| Preoperative diagnosis (based on cytology and/or biopsy) | |
| Not performed | 214 (32·9) |
| Non‐diagnostic/inadequate | 11 (1·7) |
| Benign | 34 (5·2) |
| Atypia/follicular lesion of unknown significance | 13 (2·0) |
| Follicular neoplasm | 27 (4·2) |
| Suspicious for malignancy | 56 (8·6) |
| Malignant | 295 (45·4) |
| Indication for surgery | |
| Thyrotoxicosis | 9 (1·4) |
| Compression symptoms | 11 (1·7) |
| Excluding malignancy | 123 (18·9) |
| Malignancy | 494 (76·0) |
| Other indication | 13 (2·0) |
| Thyroid surgery | |
| Unilateral lobectomy of thyroid gland | 65 (10·0) |
| Unilateral resection of thyroid gland | 4 (0·6) |
| Bilateral resection of thyroid gland | 22 (3·4) |
| Total thyroidectomy | 556 (85·5) |
| Lobectomy and resection of contralateral lobe | 2 (0·3) |
| Other | 1 (0·2) |
| Lymph node dissection | |
| None | 90 (13·8) |
| Excision of lymph nodes | 23 (3·5) |
| CLND | 287 (44·2) |
| CLND plus unilateral LLND | 168 (25·8) |
| CLND plus bilateral LLND | 82 (12·6) |
| No. of parathyroid glands identified during surgery † | 3 (2–4) |
| 0 | 10 (1·5) |
| 1 | 51 (7·8) |
| 2 | 126 (19·4) |
| 3 | 146 (22·5) |
| 4 | 316 (48·6) |
| 5 | 1 (0·2) |
| Parathyroid reimplantation | 196 (30·2) |
| Parathyroid resection (n = 623) | 38 (6·1) |
| Intraoperative nerve monitoring (n = 578) | 498 (86·2) |
*
With percentages in parentheses unless indicated otherwise;
†
values are median (i.q.r.). MTC, medullary thyroid carcinoma; FTC, follicular thyroid carcinoma; CLND, central lymph node dissection; LLND, lateral lymph node dissection.