Thyroid nodes
Nodi thyreoidei
Deep anterior cervical lymph nodes lying on and around the thyroid gland in the lower front of the neck.
At a glance
- English
- Thyroid nodes
- Latin (TA2)
- Nodi thyreoidei
- System
- Lymphatic
- Region
- Neck
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the thyroid nodes
The thyroid nodes are small lymph nodes lying close to the thyroid gland, on its surface or just outside its capsule. They belong to the deep anterior cervical group, together with the prelaryngeal nodes above, the pretracheal nodes below the isthmus and the paratracheal nodes beside the trachea. They are small and few, and are usually seen only on imaging or found during surgery.
The thyroid gland itself wraps around the front and sides of the upper trachea and lower larynx, with a lobe on each side joined by the isthmus. It sits deep to the infrahyoid strap muscles and is enclosed in the pretracheal fascia. The superior and inferior thyroid arteries enter it at its upper and lower poles, and the nodes lie along the vessels and in the fascia around the gland.
The thyroid has a rich network of lymph vessels within and just under its capsule. These drain first to the thyroid nodes and then onward in several directions: upwards to the prelaryngeal nodes, forwards and down to the pretracheal nodes, sideways to the paratracheal nodes, and laterally along the thyroid veins to the deep cervical chain on the internal jugular vein.
Because the gland drains in so many directions, thyroid cancer can spread both to the central neck and to the lateral neck. The papillary type in particular commonly reaches nearby nodes even when the tumour is small, so the nodes around the gland are checked by ultrasound before surgery and may be removed with it. Enlargement may also occur in inflammatory thyroid disease.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- Afferent vessels from the lymph network within and beneath the capsule of the thyroid gland.
- Drains into
- Efferent vessels pass to the prelaryngeal, pretracheal and paratracheal nodes and to the deep cervical nodes along the internal jugular vein.
- Drains
- First filter for lymph from the thyroid gland. Thyroid cancer spreads readily along these routes, so these nodes guide the extent of thyroid surgery.
Anthromica
See the thyroid nodes where it really sits, with every layer of the body around it.
- Every layer, one body. Peel from muscle to bone, nerve, vessel and organ, and turn it any way.
- English and Latin. Every structure named the way your exam names it.
- Quiz until it sticks. Short drills on the structures you keep missing.
Free to start. No card.
