Abstract: This research to investigate the diagnostic value of ultrasound features in lymph node metastasis of thyroid papillary microcarcinoma (PTMC). Seventy patients with PTMC were detected by ultrasound examination, in which the age, extraglandular invasion, longitudinal image aspect ratio >1.0, transverse image aspect ratio >1.0, diameter ≥ 5 mm, microcalcification, unclear boundary, nodule contact (or invasion) capsule length/nodule perimeter ≥ 1/4 ratio of patients with cervical lymph node metastasis were significantly higher than those without cervical lymph node metastasis Patients with lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that age, extraglandular invasion, aspect ratio of longitudinal image >1.0, nodule contact (or invasion) capsule length/nodule perimeter ≥ 1/4 and microcalcification were the influencing factors of cervical lymph node metastasis in PTMC patients (P<0.05). The area under ROC curve of influencing factors to establish the Logistic regression equation was 0.822 (P<0.05), while the sensitivity and specificity of diagnosis of cervical lymph node metastasis were 81.50% and 83.00%, respectively. The ultrasound features has a good application value in the diagnosis of cervical lymph node metastasis of PTMC.

Key words: ultrasound, papillary thyroid microcarcinoma, cervical lymph node metastasis, diagnostic value