Objective:To evaluate the clinical value of lymph node micrometastases in central group (Ⅵ) lymph node in follicular carcinoma of thyroid.
Methods :Three hundred and twenty-six negative neck lymph nodes in 68 cases on routine pathological examination(pN0) were examined by keratin-19 monoclonal antibody and S-P immunohistochemistry to detect expression of keratin-19 to confirm lymph node micrometastasis in each neck lymph node, and compare the pathological type and follow-up data of all cases.
Results:There were 46 neck lymph nodes showed positive lymph node micrometastasis among 326 negative neck lymph nodes that included 4 lymph nodes in group Ⅱ（4/42）, 5 lymph nodes in group Ⅲ(5/34), 5 lymph nodes in group Ⅳ(5/49), 1 lymph node in groupⅤ(1/17) and 31 lymph nodes in group Ⅵ(31/184). 6 in 14 cases with positive lymph node micrometastases showed distant metastasis or local recurrence, but only 3 in 54 cases with negative lymph node that micrometastases distant metastasis or local recurrence (P＜0.01).
Conclusions:The research shows that group Ⅵ neck lymph node micrometastasis is easy to occur and is closely related to local recurrence and metastasis in follicular carcinoma of thyroid.