Clinicopathologic Analysis of Thyroid Microcarcinoma

Objective To investigate the clinical and pathological characteristics of thyroid microcarcinoma(TMC).Methods The clinicopathologic and follow-up information of 63 cases TMC treated from 1988 to 2006 in our hosipital were analyzed retrospectively.Results The male and female patients were 5 and 58 respectively.The onset age ranged from 17 to 60 years old with a median of 37 years.Macroscopically,55 cases appeared as hard and rray scar tissue,7 cases appeared as dark red consol region just like beef meat,1 case appeared as cystic nodules.Sixty-one of them were papillary thyroid carcinoma and 2 were follicular thyroid carcinoma.There were 60 cases with single tumor and 3 cases with multiple ones.Lymph nodes of neck metastasis were demonstrated in 2 cases.Forty eight patients(76.1%)were followed up for mean time of(125.6±26.9)months.Twenty-nine patients were followed up for 10 years,showing 96.6%(28/29) of 10-years survival rate.Conclusion Mostly,TMC coexists in patients with benign thyroid disease.It's more common in female than in male.The papillary thyroid carcinoma is the most common histological type. There are lower lymph-node metastasis rate and a better prognosis.