Subject Area
General Surgery
Article Type
Original Study
Abstract
Background: The incidence of well-differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) has increased in recent decades, yet most cases remain indolent and categorized as low-risk, typically associated with excellent prognoses. The rising identification of these tumors has led to continued discussion about optimal surgical management. In recent years, there has been a clear trend in the evolution of guidelines addressing surgical management of WDTC toward de-escalation, including hemithyroidectomy, for appropriately selected low-risk WDTC patients. Methods: We performed a retrospective case series included 24 individuals with an incidentally discovered and pathologically proven diagnosis of WDTC following hemithyroidectomy, over a five-year period (January 2018-December 2022) at the Surgical Oncology Unit, Oncology Center and the nuclear medicine unit, Mansoura University. Based on the American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines, these patients met criteria for low-risk disease and were managed initially with hemithyroidectomy. Each was followed for two years to evaluate post-operative complications, recurrence, and survival outcomes. Results: There were 19 females (79.2%) and 5 males (20.8%), the mean age of patients was 36.6±11.6 years (19-55 years). Over the follow-up period, only one patient (3.1%) developed ipsilateral central nodal recurrence one year post-surgery, which was successfully managed with completion thyroidectomy and central neck dissection. Complications were minimal: transient recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury and transient hypocalcemia each occurred in one case (4.2%). The overall prognosis and two-year survival were excellent (100%). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that hemithyroidectomy represents an effective and safe initial surgical approach for low-risk WDTC when applied to carefully selected patients.
Recommended Citation
El Din, Yasser Sharaf; Gaballa, Khaled; Attia, Mohamed; and Hegazy, Mohamed A.
(2025)
"Oncologic outcome of hemithyroidectomy for low risk patients with well differentiated thyroid carcinoma,"
Mansoura Medical Journal: Vol. 55
:
Iss.
1
, Article 12.
Available at:
https://doi.org/10.58775/2735-3990.1492
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
