Table 4.

Demographics and clinical characteristics of patients undergoing lateral lymph node dissection

Clinicopathological properties			Lateral lymph node metastasis
		Total	No		Yes
Subjects, n		420	209	49.8%	211	50.2%
Gender	Female	329	172	52.3%	157	47.7%
	Male	91	37	40.7%	54	59.3%
Age (years)	≤35	121	48	39.7%	73	60.3%
	35–45	104	52	50.0%	52	50.0%
	45–55	108	56	51.9%	52	48.1%
	> 55	87	53	60.9%	34	39.1%
Tumor size(cm)	≤0.5	35	24	68.6%	11	31.4%
	0.5–1.0	137	82	59.9%	55	40.1%
	1.0–2.0	147	69	46.9%	78	53.1%
	> 2.0	101	34	33.7%	67	66.3%
Ultrasound feature
Microcalcification	No	277	144	52.0%	133	48.0%
	Yes	143	65	45.5%	78	54.5%
Hypoechoic solid nodules	No	73	33	45.2%	40	54.8%
	Yes	347	176	50.7%	171	49.3%
Irregular shape	No	259	131	50.6%	128	49.4%
	Yes	161	78	48.4%	83	51.6%
Infiltrative margins	No	95	48	50.5%	47	49.5%
	Yes	325	161	49.5%	164	50.5%
Intra-nodular vascularity	No	114	57	50.0%	57	50.0%
	Yes	306	152	49.7%	154	50.3%
Multifocality	No	272	142	52.2%	130	47.8%
	Yes	148	67	45.3%	81	54.7%
Bilateral	No	315	163	51.7%	152	48.3%
	Yes	105	46	43.8%	59	56.2%
Extrathyroidal extension	No	286	153	53.5%	133	46.5%
	Yes	134	56	41.8%	78	58.2%
Distant metastasis	No	416	207	49.8%	209	50.2%
	Yes	4	2	50.0%	2	50.0%
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis	No	251	130	51.8%	121	48.2%
	Yes	169	79	46.7%	90	53.3%
The number of CLNM	0	186	130	69.9%	56	30.1%
	1–3 > 3	165 69	68 11	41.2% 15.9%	97 58	58.8% 84.1%
TSH value			2.20 ± 1.66		2.16 ± 1.44