The authors present a review of 5,000 thyroidectomies performed from 1962 to 1999. The sample showed 473 cases of differentiated thyroid carcinoma operated at the Endocrine Section, Surgical General Department of Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual, São Paulo. The basic treatment of the primary tumor was complete extirpation of the gland (total thyroidec-tomy). Histologic examination of the surgical material comprised both lobes of the gland. There was a bilateral involvement in 36% of the cases and unilateral in the remaining (64%). The follow-up of these patients (Kaplan-Meier test, Proportional Hazards Regression and logrank test) showed survival probability of 91% for the unilateral cases and 70% for the bilateral ones (p<0,0001).
Thyroid carcinoma; Thyroidectomy; Intra-glandular dissemination
