Metastatic involvement of draining paratracheal lymph nodes in hypopharyngeal carcinoma: a clinicopathological study

ABSTRACT

Histological evidence of metastatic involvement of paratracheal lymph nodes in hypopharyngeal carcinoma and its clinicopathological implications were studied. Twenty-five patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma underwent total laryngopharyngo-oesophagectomy with complete paratracheal clearance. The incidence of positive paratracheal lymph nodes was 40% in hypopharyngeal tumours. Postcricoid lesions showed a higher percentage of positive nodes [50%] compared to those in posterior wall lesions [16.67%]. There was a statistically significant increase in the incidence of positive paratracheal lymph nodes with thyroid gland invasion, vocal cord invasion, metastasis to the internal jugular chain of the deep cervical nodes and extracapsular and perineural spread