Rights The Author(s) ORIGINAL ARTICLE – ENDOCRINE TUMORS Significance of Metastatic Lymph Node Ratio on Stimulated Thyroglobulin Levels in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma after

Background. Prognostic significance of metastatic central lymph node ratio (CLNR) in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) remains unknown. Because postsurgical detectable stimulated thyroglobulin (DsTg) after radioiodine ablation may imply persistent or recurrent disease, we evaluated the association between CLNR and rate of DsTg in patients with PTC who underwent unilateral prophylactic central neck dissection. Methods. To be eligible for analysis, the prophylactic central neck dissection specimen had to contain C3 central lymph nodes (CLNs) with C1 harboring metastasis. Of 129 specimens, 51 (39.5%) were eligible. CLNR was calculated as follows: (number of metastatic CLNs/number of CLNs retrieved) 9 100. They were categorized into group 1 (CLN