Objective: To determine the optimal detection and management of recurrent/persistent radioactive iodine–resistant papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) in the neck without distant metastases.
Design: Retrospective clinical study with institutional review board approval. Median follow-up was 31 months.
Setting: University-based tertiary cancer hospital.
Patients: Between 1999 and 2005, 97 consecutive patients with recurrent/persistent PTC in the neck underwent exploration. Stimulated thyroglobulin (Tg) levels and high-resolution ultrasound were used to identify recurrent disease. All patients had previously undergone thyroidectomy (with or without lymph node dissection) and received radioactive iodine. Twenty-five patients with antithyroglobulin antibodies were excluded.