Relationship between Distant Metastases and Cervical Lymph Node Metastases in Patients with Papillary Carcinoma of Thyroid.

In a series of 43 patients with differentiated carcinomas of the thyroid who were treated with total thyroidectomy during the past 2 years in Kobe City General Hospital, 5 with papillary carcinoma and 1 with follicular carcinoma had distant metastases. There was no particular relationship between the distant metastasis and the number of metastatic cervical lymph nodes. On the other hand, the number of metastases was high in the jugular chain in patients with distant metastases. Therefore, total thyroidectomy is recommended in patients with jugular chain metastases.