Current guidelines show no consensus regarding the indication of completion thyroidectomy versus close follow-up in patients diagnosed with thyroid carcinoma after hemithyroidectomy. The descriptive study analyzes histological findings in a series of completion thyroidectomes performed at our center.
A retrospective descriptive analysis was performed on a prospectively collected database of completion thyroidectomies undertaken in our center between 2009 and 2022. Characteristics such as histology, multifocality, size, Bethesda and TIRADS were described.
Out of 122 completion thyroidectomies, histological diagnosis of thyroid carcinoma in hemithyroidectomy was the surgical indication in 43 patients.
Histological findings after the initial hemithyroidectomy were papillary carcinoma in 55.8%, follicular carcinoma in 23.3%, micropapillary carcinoma in 14% and medullary carcinoma in 7%.
In those with initial papillary carcinoma, histological findings after completion thyroidectomy were micropapillary carcinoma in 20.8% and papillary carcinoma in 8.3%.
In those with initial follicular carcinoma, micropapillary carcinoma was found in 10% of completion thyroidectomies.
In those with initial micropapillary carcinoma, papillary and micropapillary carcinoma were found in 33.3% and 33.3% of completion thyroidectomies respectively.
In those with an initial finding of medullary carcinoma, medullary carcinoma was found in 33.3% of completion thyroidectomies.
Furthermore, ultrasound, cytological and histological findings such as size, extrathyroidal extension, multifocality and lymph node extension were analyzed in the described tumors.
In patients diagnosed with thyroid carcinoma after hemithyroidectomy, the indication of completion thyroidectomy versus close follow-up should be individualized based on histological characteristics of the initial tumor.