Accuracy and Clinical Significance of Intraoperative Gross Extrathyroidal Extension (T3b) Assessment in Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma

Among 179 patients suspected of gross ETE intraoperatively, 21.2% showed no muscle invasion on pathology. Although recurrence rates were similar across groups, recurrence-free survival tended to be lower in Group A relative to Group B, indicating the potential prognostic relevance of accurate intraoperative T3b identification. Long-term follow-up is needed to confirm this trend.