The Effectiveness of Prophylactic Selective Lateral Neck Dissection in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Patients With Central Neck Metastasis

The lymphatic drainage pattern of the thyroid is uniform and consistent, and therefore, metastatic patterns are relatively predictable. Initial nodal metastasis in PTC usually occurs in the paratracheal and pretracheal nodes in level VI of the central compartment of the ipsilateral neck and spreads to the lateral cervical lymph nodes. Macroscopic skip metastases to the lateral compartment of the neck in the absence of central disease are uncommon.