Table 1.
Characteristics of the selected studies included in the meta-analysis.
| Authors/Year of Publication | Country | Female (%) | Mean Age (Y) | Time of Surgery Stated | Study Design | Surgical Approach | Follow-Up | Outcomes Assessed | RAI Given (%) | Histological Subtypes Included | High Risk Patients Included (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TL | TT | |||||||||||
| Samaan 1983 [36] | USA | 73 | NA | 1951–1975 | Retrospective cohort study | 105 | 491 | 6–30 Y | Recurrence, OS | yes (34%) | PTC, FTC, HCC | yes |
| Shah 1993 [37] | USA | 62 | 57 | 1930–1980 | Retrospective matched cohort study | 73 | 73 | 20 Y | Recurrence, DFS | yes * | PTC, FTC | yes |
| Shaha 1997 [38] | USA | 74 | 31 | 1930–1985 | Retrospective cohort study | 280 | 90 | 20 Y | Recurrence, DSS | NA | PTC, FTC | no |
| Hay 1998 [15] | USA | NA | 43 | 1940–1991 | Retrospective cohort study | 185 | 1082 | 16 Y | Recurrence, DFS, DSS | yes | PTC | no |
| Sanders 1998 [39] | USA | 72 | 44 | 1940–1990 | Retrospective cohort study | 224 | 795 | 0–47 Y | Recurrence, OS, DSS | NA | PTC, FTC, HCC | yes |
| Haigh 2004 [40] | USA | 77 | NA | 1988–1995 | Retrospective population-based cohort | 739 | 3663 | 1 mo–12 Y | OS | yes | PTC | Yes ** |
| Bilimoria 2007 [16] | USA | 76 | 43 | 1985–1998 | Retrospective population-based cohort | 8946 | 43,227 | 5.8 Y | Recurrence, OS | yes | PTC | yes |
| Mendelsohn 2010 [41] | USA | 78 | 44 | 1988–2001 | Retrospective population-based cohort | 5964 | 16,760 | 9.1 Y | OS, DSS | yes | PTC | yes |
| Hassanain 2010 [29] | Canada | 73 | NA | 1982–2002 | Retrospective cohort study | 126 | 54 | 4–25 Y | Recurrence, DFS | yes (28.3%) | PTC, FTC | yes |
| Ito 2010 [17] | Japan | 94 | 51.1 ± 12.4 | 1987–2005 | Retrospective cohort study | 1601 | 1037 | 0.5–34 Y | Recurrence, DSS | yes (0.1%) | PTC | no |
| Barney 2010 [1] | USA | NA | NA | 1983–2002 | Retrospective population-based cohort | 3266 | 12,598 | 2 mo–19.9 Y | OS, DSS | yes | PTC, FTC | yes |
| Vaisman 2011 [42] | USA | 84 | 45 ± 13 | 1986–2005 | Retrospective cohort study | 72 | 217 | 0.5–34 Y | Recurrence, DSS | no | PTC, HCC | no |
| Nixon 2012 [43] | USA | 79 | 46 | 1986–2005 | Retrospective cohort study | 361 | 528 | 13 mo–24.3 Y | Recurrence, OS, DSS | yes | PTC, FTC, HCC | yes |
| Ebina 2014 [18] | Japan | 76 | 54 ± 14 | 1993–2010 | Retrospective cohort study | 791 | 176 | 3–20 Y | Recurrence, DFS, DSS | yes | PTC | yes *** |
| Adam 2014 [44] | USA | 80 | NA | 1998–2011 | Retrospective population-based cohort | 6849 | 54,926 | 5–14.9 Y | OS | yes | PTC | yes |
| Kuba 2017 [45] | Japan | 86 | 53 | 1994–2008 | Retrospective matched cohort study | 120 | 53 | 11 mo–20.8 Y | OS, DFS | yes | PTC | yes |
Percentage was rounded up to a closest integer. Y: years, mo: months, TT: total thyroidectomy, TL: thyroid lobectomy, OS: overall survival, DFS: disease free survival, DSS: disease specific survival, RAI: radioactive iodine, PTC: papillary thyroid carcinoma, FTC: follicular thyroid carcinoma, HCC: Hürthle cell carcinoma, NA: not available; * ”only a few received RAI” (not otherwise specified). ** The total cohort included 18% high-risk patients, however separate analysis available for the low-risk cohort, therefore only those patients were included in the meta-analysis. *** The total cohort included 19% high-risk patients, however separate analysis available for the low-risk cohort, therefore only those patients were included in the meta-analysis.