Table 2.
Unfavorable Events Following Active Surveillance and Immediate Surgery
| Intended management | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unfavorable events | Active surveillance, 1179 pts | Immediate surgery, 974 pts | p-Value |
| Later surgery (pts) | 94 | 0 | <0.0001 |
| Temporary VCP (%) | 7 (0.6%) | 40 (4.1%) | <0.0001 |
| Permanent VCP (%) | 0 (0%) | 2 (0.2%) | n.s. |
| Temporary Hypo-PT (%) | 33 (2.8%) | 163 (16.7%) | <0.0001 |
| Permanent Hypo-PT (%) | 1 (0.08%) | 16 (1.6%) | <0.0001 |
| On L-thyroxine (%) | 244 (20.7%) | 644 (66.1%) | <0.0001 |
| Postsurgical hematoma (%) | 0 (0%) | 5 (0.5%) | <0.05 |
| Postsurgical abscess (%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | n.s. |
| Surgical scar (%) | 94 (8.0%) | 974 (100%) | <0.0001 |
| Recurrence in neck (pts) | 1 | 5 | n.s. |
| Death (%) | 3 (0.3%) | 5 (0.5%) | n.s. |
VCP and Hypo-PT in the active surveillance group occurred in patients who converted to surgery later for various reasons, except for one patient who developed idiopathic Hypo-PT and another who developed transient idiopathic VCP contralateral to the microcarcinoma. All deaths in the present series were due to causes unrelated to thyroid cancer.
VCP, vocal cord paralysis; Hypo-PT, hypoparathyroidism.