TABLE 2.

Comparison of characteristics after initial operation and findings at first reoperation

Characteristic	BCR-positive group	BCR-negative group	p
	(n = 26)	(n = 55)
Age at initial operation (year)	30.4 (18.3–59.9)	43.1 (11.8–85.3)	0.186
Age at first RND (year)	34.6 (19.9–60.2)	49.2 (13.1–86.5)	0.077
Gender (M:F)	7:19	19:36	0.604
Primary tumor stage by TNM stage			0.781
I	16 (61.5)	31 (56.4)
II	5 (19.2)	9 (16.4)
III	5 (19.2)	13 (23.6)
IV	0 (0.0)	2 (3.6)
Primary tumor characteristics
Tumor size (cm)	2.3 (0.8–5.0)	2.0 (0.7–9.0)	0.442
Extrathyroidal extension	12 (46.2)	27 (49.1)	0.767
Tumor multifocality	14 (53.8)	31 (56.4)	0.923
Capsular invasion	9 (35.6)	30 (54.5)	0.148
LN metastasis (pN1)	19 (73.1)	46 (83.6)	0.345
Tg level			<0.001*,b
After ablation (ng/mL)	0.5 (<0.2–9.7)	7 (1.6–126.0)
≤2 ng/mL	21 (80.8)	6 (10.9)
>2 ng/mL	5 (19.2)	49 (89.1)
Type of first RND			0.114
Focused/completion	12 (46.2)	36 (65.5)
Formal dissection	14 (53.8)	19 (34.5)
Extent of first RND			0.144
Central compartment only	4 (15.4)	4 (7.3)
Lateral compartment only	20 (76.9)	37 (67.3)
Central and lateral compartments	2 (7.7)	14 (25.5)
No. of LNs excised at first RND	13 (3–42)	11 (5–50)	0.767
No. of positive LNs excised at first RND	6 (1–12)	3 (1–17)	0.039*,b
LN ratio (%)a	43.3 (33.3–53.3)	32.5 (13.3–60.0)	0.326
Presence of extranodal extension	1 (3.8)	29 (52.7)	<0.001*,c
Postreoperation sTg level after first RND (ng/mL)	0.2 (<0.2–3.0)	17 (0.9–134.1)	<0.001*,b

Data are presented as median (range) or n (%). Name of test has been added for each significant variable

BCR-positive biochemical complete remission, BCR-negative no biochemical complete remission, RND reoperative cervical neck dissection, LN lymph node, sTg stimulated thyroglobulin level

^aLN ratio = (Number of positive lymph nodes excised/number of lymph nodes excised) × 100

^bMann-Whitney U test

^cFisher’s Exact test

* Statistically significant at p < 0.05