Incidence of Nonlocalization of Sentinel Lymph Nodes Using Preoperative Lymphoscintigraphy in 74 Consecutive Head and Neck Melanoma and Merkel Cell Carcinoma Patients

Abstract

In a series of 135 consecutive patients with head and neck cutaneous malignancies, 74 of whom were treated with preoperative lymphoscintograms, a nonlocalization rate of 6.8% was found. This is a significant rate of nonlocalization and reflects either the inherent difficulty in imaging the head and neck region and/or the possible rapid rate of dye washout via multiple lymphatic drainage pathways that exist in this location.