Assessment of Papillary Thyroid Cancer Sentinel Lymph Node using OSNA

Lymphadenectomy in papillary thyroid carcinoma continues to be controversial. Sentinel node biopsy has been proposed as a tool to assess potential lymph node involvement intraoperatively, but false-negative rates range 12-15%, especially if small volume nodes or micrometastases are present. During the last few years, One Step Nucleic Acid Amplification (OSNA) has raised as a sensitive biomolecular technique to perform intraoperative quantitative analysis of carcinoma metastatic lymph nodes. This prospective consecutive case series study will aim to describe results of sentinel lymph node examination using OSNA in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma. The included patients will be prospectively registered in a standardized database. Rate of positivity for malignancy sentinel node biopsy, and subsequent compartment neck lymphadenectomy, will be evaluated. Postoperative complications and free disease survival will be reported for descriptive purposes.