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No sponsorships or competing interests have been disclosed for this article. Objective. (1) To investigate the role of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis (CLT) in central node metastasis of papillary thyr-oid carcinoma (PTC) and (2) to evaluate the presence of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis according to PTC-specific molecular markers. Study Design. Historical cohort study. Setting. Academic medical center. Subjects and Methods. All patients who underwent total thyr-oidectomy with central neck dissection for PTC at Oregon Health & Science University between 2005 and 2010 were screened for the presence of CLT and reviewed for clinical prognostic factors. Patients with inadequate central neck dissections were excluded. Molecular markers for PT