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Volume 27, Issue 136, June 2023

Role of Computed Tomography in evaluation of invasion and regional lymph nodes metastasis in patients with thyroid cancer

Trương Thụy My1,2, Lam Diem Phương1,3, Dang Vinh Hiep1, Huynh Quang Huy1,3♦

1Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
2HCMC Oncology Hospital, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
3Trung Vuong Hospital, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

♦Corresponding author
Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam and Trung Vuong Hospital, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

ABSTRACT

Background: Vietnam reported 5471 new thyroid cancer patients which rank tenth in 2020. The sensitivity of computed tomography (CT) is higher than ultrasound in evaluation of invasive thyroid cancer and the lymph nodes metastasis. Materials and methods: One hundred and four patients (72 women, 32 men; age range 16 – 80 years; mean 44 years) with 116 malignant tumors of the thyroid were enrolled in this descriptive study. All patients were performed a neck contrast-enhanced CT and the results were compared with the surgical and histopathologic findings. Results: The features of thyroid cancer on CT include irregular margins, unclear boundaries, calcification and strong contrast enhancement after injection. The sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of CT were as follows: 99%, 84.6%, 98.1% and 91.7% for capsular invasion; 98.7%, 97.4%, 98.7% and 97.4% for invasion of strap muscles; 85.7%, 97.2%, 66.7% and 99% for invasion of subcutaneous soft tissues; 77.3%, 98.9%, 94.4% and 94.9% for tracheal invasion; 76.5%, 98.9%, 92.9% and 96.1% for esophageal invasion; 83.3%, 100%, 100% and 99% for invasion of blood vessels. The rate of lymph node metastasis in thyroid cancer was high and the central cervical lymph node group predominates. Conclusion: CT can be a valuable tool for evaluation of invasive thyroid cancer and the lymph nodes metastasis.

Keywords: Thyroid cancer, computed tomography, invasion, lymph nodes metastasis

Medical Science, 2023, 27, e278ms3113
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v27i136/e278ms3113

Published: 27 June 2023

Creative Commons License

© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).