Zuckerkandl Anatomical Significance Of Nodules In The Thyroid Surgery

Objective:To study the anatomical relation between Zuekerkandl’s tubercle(ZT) andrecurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) and the superior parathyroid(SP) glands．Methods:80patients(50thyroid cancer and30benign diseases) underwent totalthyroidectomy and120patients underwent subtotal thyroidectomy from May2011toFebruary2012were included in our study．We investigated the ZT presence orabsence,size and association with the RLN and SP．Results:ZT was identified in most patients．Among them，85％(170/200) were found onleft.87.5％(175/200) on right and81％(162/200) were found to be bilateral．The RLNwas mainly located back of the ZT and92.6％(126/136) on left and90.5％(124/137) onright．92.0％(126/137) of SP were located on the top of ZT (10or11o’clock position) onright and91.9％(125/136) on the top of ZT (1or2o’clock position) on left．Conclusions There was an important anatomical relationship between ZT and RLN andSP．...