[Zuckerkandl's tubercle. Location, shape and dimensions]

Introduction and objective: Although Zuckerkandl's tubercle is not known by many head and neck surgeons, it is a fundamental surgical anatomical detail, already described in the nineteenth century. Its detection is of great importance as the reference in the search for the recurrent nerve and superior parathyroid gland.

Material and method: We designed a prospective study to analyse the posterolateral border of thyroid lobes, looking for this tubercle. We included 107 thyroidectomies performed by the same surgeon; 88 were total thyroidectomies (82.24%) and 19 hemithyroidectomies (17.75%), with dissection of a total of 195 thyroid lobes. Zuckerkandl's tubercle should be sought by displacing the posterolateral margin of the thyroid lobes.

Results: It was reliably detected in 155 thyroid lobes (79.48%). The mean tubercle dimensions were 11 mm transverse axis and 9 mm longitudinal axis. The shape of the Zuckerkandl's tubercle was sessile (70.96%) or pedunculated (29.03%). In the 5.80% of cases, the Zuckerkandl's tubercle distal end was bifid. We did not find a Zuckerkandl's tubercle individualised as an ectopic thyroid (0.00%). Zuckerkandl's tubercle was more frequent in the right thyroid lobe (P=.06).

Conclusion: Zuckerkandl's tubercle is recognised by its location, shape and dimensions.