Resultados preliminares de la utilidad del ganglio centinela en tumores de cabeza y cuello

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study is to assess the value of the sentinel node (SN) in head and neck tumours and to create a lymphatic mapping of these tumors. Patients and met - hods : We prospectively studied 13 patients with head and neck tumours N0. We divided these patients in two groups depending on the location of the primary tumour. We injected colloidal particles of serum albumin labeled with Tc-99 peritumoraly and we located the SN intrao p e r a t i v e l y. The SN was then sent for anatomopathological study. Re-sults: In the oropharynx and oral cavity group, with 5 patients, the SN correctly predicted the pathological status of the neck in all of them. In the group of larynx and hypopharynx, with 8 patients, in 6, the SN correctly predicted the pathological status of the neck. In 2 patients, the SN was negative for metastases but there were metastases in the neck dissection. Conclusions: This technique represents an advance over selective dissection as an accurate method of neck staging, but its value in this field remains unclear.