Abstract: Background and purpose: The incidence of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) is increasing, and the overall prognosis is good. However, there is controversy in clinical diagnosis and treatment of the disease. In this study, we summarized the clinical characteristics and risk factors of PTMC by analyzing the data of patients in order to guide clinical precision treatment. Methods: We performed retrospective analysis of clinical and pathological data of patients with PTMC who underwent surgery from Jan. 2015 to Dec. 2017 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College. Results: Of the 228 patients, 109 had central lymph node and/or lateral cervical lymph node metastasis (47.81%). Univariate analysis showed that gender, age, maximum tumor diameter and number of primary tumors were associated with cervical lymph node metastasis (all P value <0.05 ). Multivariate logistic analysis showed that male patient, less than 45 years of age, tumor maximum diameter ˃4 mm and multi-center lesion were independent risk factors for cervical lymph node metastasis of PTMC (all P value <0.05 ). Conclusion: Although PTMC is small, it does not indicate lower risk of lymph node metastasis, particularly patient who is male, younger than 45 years, whose tumor maximum diameter ˃4 mm or who has multi-center lesion should be actively involved in surgical intervention.

Key words: Thyroid neoplasms, Papillary carcinoma, Lymph node metastasis, Risk factors, Lymph node dissection