[Lymph node involvement in 50 cases of thyroid cancer. Topographic and prognostic study].

From a series of 50 thyroid cancers with lymph node metastases, the authors have conducted a topographical study of lymph node dissemination in the neck according to the topography of the primary cancer and its anatomopathological form. The prognostic aspects drawn from this casuistic study concern the anatomopathological form, the type of lymph node extension in the neck, and the type of lymph node dissection carried out for curative purposes. This study's main findings are that the anatomopathological element predominates over lymph node dissemination, and that conservative lymph node removal remains preferable to the classical total excision.