IMPORTANCE The metastatic status of regional lymph nodes is the most relevant prognostic factor in breast cancer, melanoma, and other solid organ tumors with a lymphatic spread. The current gold standard for detection and targeted excision of the sentinel lymph node is preoperative lymphoscintigraphy with technetium Tc 99m. Because of the worldwide shortage of technetium Tc 99m, physicians are ...

Background. Most institutions require a patient undergoing sentinel lymph node biopsy to go through nuclear medicine prior to surgery to be injected with radioisotope. This study describes the long-term results using intraoperative injection of radioisotope. Methods. Since late 2002, all patients undergoing a sentinel lymph node biopsy at the Yale-New Haven Breast Center underwent intraoperativ...

Axillary nodal status is the most important prognostic factor for patients with breast cancer. Clinical assessment and imaging modalities are not always reliable. Surgical removal and histopathological examination of axillary lymph nodes remain essential methods of staging the axilla and planning breast cancer therapy (Chu et al, 2010; Perry, 2001) But whether axillary lymph node dissection imp...

I read the manuscript entitled “Case Report of An Open Neck Procedure Complication Associated with Laryngeal Mask Airway Use” by Subramaniam T et al. This is a valuable manuscript describing iatrogenic complications during level-2 cervical lymph node biopsy, in which the airway is managed with laryngeal mask airway (LMA). During the procedure, the surgeon realized that the mass was actually the...

OBJECTIVE A comprehensive literature search for more recent studies pertaining to sentinel lymph node mapping in the surveillance of cervical cancer to assess if sentinel lymph node mapping has sensitivity and specificity for evaluation of the disease; assessment of posttreatment response and disease recurrence in cervical cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS The literature review has been construct...

BACKGROUND Sentinel lymph node biopsy has been established as the preferred method for staging early breast cancer. A prior history of mastectomy is felt to be a contraindication. CASE PRESENTATION A patient with recurrent breast cancer in her skin flap was discovered to have positive axillary sentinel nodes by sentinel lymph node biopsy five years after mastectomy for ductal carcinoma in sit...

BACKGROUND We reviewed management of the cervical lymph nodes in patients with Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) of the head and neck. METHODS Records of 15 patients with MCC of the head and neck area were evaluated for the type of surgical treatment, including wide local excision, sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy, neck dissection, postoperative radiation therapy, and clinical outcomes. RESULTS M...

Secretory breast carcinoma (SBC) is a rare tumor that was originally described in children and adolescent women, with a characteristic morphology and controversy regarding the choice of treatment. This unusual breast cancer subtype generally has a favorable prognosis, although several cases have been described in adults with increased tumor aggressiveness and a risk of metastases. Surgery is co...

INTRODUCTION The level of lymph node involvement is the most important factor in staging colorectal cancer without metastasis. Sentinel lymph node mapping identifies the node(s) that most accurately reflect the lymph node status of patients, and intensive techniques that improve staging can be focused on these nodes. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of ex vivo sentinel lymph nod...

BACKGROUND We evaluated the contribution of sentinel-node biopsy to outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed melanoma. METHODS Patients with a primary cutaneous melanoma were randomly assigned to wide excision and postoperative observation of regional lymph nodes with lymphadenectomy if nodal relapse occurred, or to wide excision and sentinel-node biopsy with immediate lymphadenectomy if nod...