Should level V be included in lateral neck dissection in treating papillary thyroid carcinoma?

Table 2 Univariate analysis of factors related to level V lymph node metastasis (LNM) in 330 patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC)

Variable		Cases	LNM or	Not	P value
Age	<45 yr	243	66	177	0.275
	≥45 yr	87	29	58	0.275
Gender	Male	140	47	93	0.099
	Female	190	48	142
Location^a	Left lobe	120	29	91	0.000
Location^a	Right lobe	152	37	115
	Whole thyroid	58	29	29
Lesion	Solitary lesion	248	67	181	0.216
	Multifocal lesion	82	28	54	0.216
Intact capsule^b	Yes	292	81	211	0.244
	No	38	14	24	0.244
Gross Ex	Yes	39	17	22	0.030
	No	291	78	213
Tumor size (cm)	≤1	56	12	44	0.170
Tumor size (cm)	1 ≤2	140	44	96
	2 ≤4	117	31	86
	>4	17	8	9
Simultaneous	Yes	152	53	99	0.024
metastases^c	No	178	42	136

ISSN: 1477-7819