Primary tumors in the upper portion of the thyroid are closely linked to skip metastasis. Careful preoperative evaluation of lateral cervical lymph nodes is suggested when a tumor is in the upper portion.

ObjectivesThe tension on a wound is one of the important factors that determine the degree of fibrosis and scar formation. We hypothesized that local botulinum toxin type A (Botox) induced paralysis of the musculature subjacent to a surgical wound with a skin defect would minimize the repetitive tensile forces on the surgical wound's edges, and this will result in a decreased fibroplastic response and fibrosis of the wound.MethodsThis is a prospective randomized experimental study. Two distinct surgical wounds were made to the dorsum of 15 adult rats, respectively. One of the 2 wounds was injected with Botox, and the other wound was used as a control, and this was done for all the rats' wounds. We evaluated the wound size, the degree of fibrosis and inflammation, the blood vessel proliferation, the thickness of the wound and the expression of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 in the wounds.ResultsThere were significant differences of wound size at the 3rd and 4th week between the Botox and control groups (P<0.05). The Botox group showed less infiltration of inflammatory cells than the control group at the 2nd week (P<0.05). The Botox group showed a smaller number of fibroblasts and less fibrosis than the control group at the 4th week (P<0.05). The Botox group showed much strong collagen density than the control group at the 8th week (P<0.05). For the immunohistochemical staining, there was a lower transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 expression in the Botox group than that of the control group at the 4th week (P<0.05).ConclusionThe wounds of the Botox-treated group showed a larger wound size, less infiltration of inflammatory cells and less fibrosis, a much greater amount of collagen and a lower expression of TGF-β1 than did the control group. Botox might be used to decrease the fibrosis of a surgical wound without damaging the epithelial growth in situations for which decreased fibrosis is necessary, such as for treating laryngeal, tracheal and nasal stenosis.

To determine the patterns of lateral cervical metastasis and the incidence of level IIb lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma.

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Conclusion Loco-regional recurrence-free survival was significantly decreased in the papillary thyroid cancer patients with > 6 metastatic lymph nodes and a lymph node ratio > 0.22. Also, the risk of lung metastasis was significantly increased in cases with bilateral neck node metastases. Objective This study focused on the metastatic lymph node status of the lateral neck compartment to understand its prognostic significance for loco-regional recurrence and distant metastasis. Methods Between January 2004 and December 2009, 1040 patients were diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer and underwent treatment. Results In a multivariate analysis, sex, the number of metastatic lymph nodes, and the lymph node ratio was significantly associated with loco-regional recurrence. The sensitivity/specificity of > 6 metastatic lymph nodes for predicting recurrence was 64.0%/69.7%. The 5-year loco-regional recurrence-free survival of patients with 0-6 metastatic lymph nodes and > 6 metastatic lymph nodes were 93.4% and 79.2%, respectively. The 5-year loco-regional recurrence-free survival of patients with a lymph node ratio ≤ 0.22 and a lymph node ratio > 0.22 were 97.1% and 78.8%, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, only bilateral neck node metastases were significantly associated with lung metastasis.