Two Cases of Transoral Resection of Retropharyngeal Lymph Node Metastasis from Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Diagnosed by PET-CT Follow-Up after Lateral Neck Dissection / 대한이비인후과학회지

ABSTRACT

The presence of lymph node metastasis of thyroid papillary carcinoma usually occurs in the internal jugular and paratracheal space on the side of the lesion. For this reason, metastasis to the retropharyngeal lymph nodes from papillary thyroid carcinoma is rare. We currently experienced two cases of retropharyngeal lymph node metastasis of thyroid papillary carcinoma. Both patients had a history of total thyroidectomy and ipsilateral neck dissection and had undergone retropharyngeal lymph node dissection via transoral approach after the diagnosis of retropharyngeal node metastasis. We suggest that the metastatic retropharyngeal lymph nodes can be successfully removed through transoral apparoach. The diagnosis of this rare lymph node metastasis requires sufficient imaging studies such as MRI, CT or PET-CT as well as appropriate history taking and physical examination.