Banik GL, Shindo ML, Kraimer KL, et al. - Prevalence of multifocal disease in pediatric patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) was found to be high. Various potential predictors of multifocal disease, including age and advanced T and N stages, were revealed. While weighing the risks and advantages of surgical management choices in pediatric patients with PTC, consideration should be given to these risk factors and the high prevalence of multifocal disease.

• A multicenter retrospective cohort analysis of 212 patients (18 years or younger) who had thyroidectomy for PTC from 2010 to 2020 at 3 tertiary pediatric hospitals and 2 tertiary adult and pediatric hospitals in the US.

• Presence of any multifocal disease in 46% of patients (n=98) and of bilateral multifocal disease in 34% (n=73) was evident.

• Preoperative imaging more precisely predicted bilateral multifocal rather than unilateral multifocal disease.

• Predictors for multifocal and bilateral multifocal disease were: being 10 years or younger, T3 tumor stage, and N1b nodal stage.