engleski

SENTINEL LYMPH NODE SCINTIGRAPHY IN TRUNK MELANOMA: OUR FIVE-YEAR EXPERIENCE

Background: Melanoma has an increasing incidence in the world, and trunk melanoma is a negative prognostic factor in melanoma patients. Lymphatic drainage in patients with trunk melanoma is a challenge because multiple basin drainage occurs in a number of patients. Methods: We overviewed patient history, histological data and imaging results in patient with trunk melanoma who underwent sentinel lymph node scintigraphy in our Institute from 2012 to 2017. The following data were collected for each of the patients: gender, age, histological type of primary lesion and its location, Breslow depth, Clark level, number and location of sentinel lymph node, lymphadenectomy histopathological results, adjuvant treatment, presence of distant metastases and survival. Results: From 2012 to 2017 we performed sentinel lymph node scintigraphy in 42 patients with trunk melanoma. Five of the patients had to be excluded because of lack of histopathological data. Out of the remaining 37 patients, 13 were female (35, 1%) and 24 were male (64, 9%). The mean age of the patients was 57, 2 years. The rate of overall identification of the sentinel lymph node on scintigraphy was 97, 3% (36 patients). Total number of sentinel lymph nodes found was 56, the mean number of sentinel lymph nodes being 1, 51. In 64, 9% cases only one lymph node was identified. The detection of the lymph node was in following areas: unilateral axilla (30 cases, 83, 3%), bilateral axillae (3 cases, 8, 3%), unilateral groin (2 cases, 5, 6%) and bilateral groins (1 case, 2, 8%). All patients with multiple node fields lymph drainage had primary lesion located on the back. Eight patients (21, 6%) tested positive for metastasis in the lymph node. Conclusion: Sentinel lymph node scintigraphy is a helpful imaging technique for identification of lymph drainage basin, and sentinel node biopsy offers useful information about lymphatic dissemination of melanoma and regional staging approximation.

Melanoma ; Sentinel Lymph Node ; Lymphoscintigraphy

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