Abstract: Objective To explore the pattern of lymph node metastasis of differentiated thyroid carcinoma and its clinical significanced. Methods Clinical and pathological data of 41 differentiated thyroid cancer patients who underwent radical thyroidectomy and modified radical neck dissection were collected and retrospectively analyze. Results There were 38 cases positive cervical lymph node metastasis in the 41 cases.Cervical lymph node metastasis was commonly seen in region Ⅳ(56.1%) and regions Ⅱ，Ⅲ，Ⅵ(46.3%),there was no significant difference among the four groups.There were few metastatic lymph nodes in region Ⅰ and Ⅴ(9.7% and 12.2%,respectively),which had significantly different compared with regions Ⅱ，Ⅲ，Ⅳ，Ⅵ.The sensitivity of ultrasonograph that identified cervical lymph node metastases was high(97.4%). Conclusion When positive cervical lymph node metastasis are considered in differentiated thyroid carcinoma,the patients deserve formal Ⅱ，Ⅲ，Ⅳ，Ⅵ regions cervical lymph node dissection.