Table 1.
Demographic data of patients and characteristics of indeterminate LNs according to pathology.
| Variables | Benign (n = 39) | Metastasis (n = 41) | p |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female patients | 27 (69.2) | 27 (65.9) | 0.933 |
| Age (mean) | 43.4 ± 16.1 | 57.3 ± 20.2 | 0.001 |
| Treatment status | |||
| 1st thyroid cancer surgery | 34 (87.2) | 36 (87.8) | 0.824 |
| Repeated thyroid cancer surgery | 5 (12.8) | 5 (12.2) | |
| Primary tumor | |||
| Largest diameter, range (mm) | 7.1–38.0 | 6.7–45.0 | 0.421 |
| Multifocal tumor | 22 (56.4) | 26 (63.4) | 0.586 |
| Gross extrathyroidal extension | 0.877 | ||
| T3 | 2 (5.1) | 4 (9.8) | |
| T4 | 0 (0) | 1 (2.4) | |
| BRAFV600E mutation | 30 (76.9) | 35 (85.4) | 0.641 |
| Mean minimal axial diameter of LN (mm) | 8.1 ± 6.2 | 9.2 ± 5.9 | 0.533 |
| Laterality of LN | 0.877 | ||
| Left | 17 (43.5) | 18 (44.0) | |
| Right | 22 (56.4) | 23 (56.1) | |
| Location of LN | 0.001 | ||
| 1 | 1 (2.6) | 0 (0.0) | |
| 2 | 17 (43.6) | 3 (7.3) | |
| 3 | 6 (15.4) | 10 (24.4) | |
| 4 | 7 (17.9) | 22 (53.6) | |
| 5 | 4 (10.3) | 0 (0.0) | |
| 6 | 4 (10.3) | 6 (14.6) |
Numbers in parentheses are percentages of patients in each group. LN—Lymph node.