papillary thyroid microcarcinoma with large and cystic neck metastasis: report of a case and review of articles

papillary microcarcinoma of thyroid (pmc) as a variant of papillary carcinoma less than 1 cm in size is a new clinicopathological entity, with high incidence and good prognosis. there are many differences between pmc and clinically apparent papillary thyroid carcinoma. also, there are some pmc case reports with unusual metastasis and aggressive courses. prognostic factors are age, size and morphology of tumor, multifocality, cervical lymphadenopathy, etc. here we report a case of unifocal pmc less than 0.4 mm in size in one lobe of thyroid in an elderly man which was discovered by thorough cutting of thyroid gland after detecting its large and cystic cervical metastasis.