Detection of sentinel lymph nodes in treatment of skin melanoma

The paper presents data on 60 patients with skin melanoma who underwent wide tumor excision with detection and immediate morphologic examination of sentinel lymph nodes (SLN). For patients with skin tumors of lower extremities, SLN were detected in inguinal-femoral region in 94,1 % of cases and in popliteal region on the injection side in 5,9 %. In cases with tumors of upper extremities, SLN were detected in axillary lymph nodes in 100 % of cases. Tumor was located within 5 cm from the middle line of the body in 18 patients. Metastases in regional lymph nodes were revealed in 7 patients (11,3 %), of them, 85,7 % had level III tumor invasion and 71,4 % had tumor thickness of 4 mm. Immediate histologic and cytologic examinations revealed metastases in SLN in 5 patients (8,1 %). No metastases in SLN were detected in 2 patients (3,3 %) who had the evidence of other lymphogenic metastases. State of SLN for patients with skin melanoma reflects the state of lymphatic collector with 96,7 % accuracy, 100 % specificity and 71,4 % sensitivity.