Page 132 - RESUME NOTE REMINDER

year survival were 100%, 94% and 91.8% respectively. Further analysis showed a signifi- cant

reduction in survival regarding to age >45 years (P=0.03), follicular type (P=0.009), high-risk
population (P=0.008), presence of local recur rence or metastatic disease (P<0.0001) and not
significant correlation with male gender (P=0.086). Conclusion. In conclusion, total

thyroidectomy should be the surgical treatment of choice in all cases with WTC, especially in

male patients >45 years of age since they have a higher frequency of advanced malignant
disease at presentation, a fact that affects prognosis. Patients must be accu- rately
categorized postoperatively, and follow-up must be personalized, in order to diagnose recur-

rence as early as possible.

9. Papageorgiou MS, Liratzopoulos N, Efremidou EI, Karanikas M, Minipoulos G, Manolas KJ.

Multifocality of thyroid carcinomas: a "privilege" of papillary tumors or not? G Chir.10 Jan-
Feb;31(1-2):20-3. PMID:20298661 [PubMed] [Scopus]

Abstract: AIM: To study the frequency of multifocality in well-differentiated non-medullary thyroid
carcinomas and correlate it with various epidemiological factors, as well as with patients survival.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 80 patients who underwent

total thyroidectomy from January 1985 to December 2004 in the First Department of Surgery of
University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece, for well-

differentiated non-medullary thyroid cancer (papillary and follicular). Patients' medical records and
demographics, including age, gender, histological type (papillary, follicular), multiple foci of tumors,

overall and specific survival were analyzed.

RESULTS: Multifocality was established in 17/80 patients (21,25%). Multifocal tumors were found in
4/20 male patients (20%) and 13/60 female ones (21,67%), percentages which are almost identical.

Increased rates of multifocal tumors were found in the age groups of 20-29, 30-39 and 70-79 years
old, while low rates were documented in the age groups of 0-9, 10-19 and 60-69 years old. Follicular

tumors had a 20% rate, similar to papillary tumors (22,2%), and an impressive multifocal rate of
mixed papillary-follicular neoplasms (75%) was found. Finally, survival was not found to be

influenced by the multifocality of the tumor, under the prerequisition that total thyroidectomy is
applied.

CONCLUSIONS: Multifocality should not be considered as a "privilege" of papillary thyroid tumors,
but as a privilege of thyroid carcinomas in general. If total thyroidectomy is applied in all benign and

malignant thyroid diseases, the presence of multiple foci does not affect the prognosis and the

survival of the patients.

132