Prophylactic central lymph node dissection (PCLND) for adult patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is still a matter of debate. Data on incidence, risk and benefits of PCLND in Middle Eastern patients is lacking. Therefore, we aimed to identify the incidence and predictive clinico-pathological and molecular marker of PCLND in adult patients with clinically node negative (cN0) Middle Eastern PTC.
This retrospective study included 942 adult Middle Eastern patients with cN0 PTC who underwent total thyroidectomy (TT) or TT+PCLND. Clinico-pathological associations of central lymph node metastasis (CLNM) were assessed. Multivariate analysis was performed using logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards model.
213 patients underwent PCLND and 38.0% (81/213) had positive CLNM. Multivariate analysis demonstrated age ≤55 years (Odds Ratio (OR) = 7.38; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.59 – 34.31; p = 0.0108), tumor bilaterality (OR = 3.01; 95% CI = 1.01 – 9.21; p = 0.0483), lymphovascular invasion (OR = 2.92; 95% CI = 1.18 – 7.23; p = 0.0206) and
cN0 Middle Eastern PTC patients treated with PCLND showed a significantly better prognosis. PCLND was effective in improving RFS in Middle Eastern PTC patients and should be encouraged for patients with potential risk factors for CLNM.