title: Preoperative assessment of cervical lymph node involvement in esophageal cancer.
abstract: Lymphoscintigraphy (LS) and computed tomography (CT) were used preoperatively to assess nodal involvement in 23 patients with esophageal cancer. LS predicted nodal involvement with a high sensitivity and low specificity since false positives were frequent while in contrast, CT predicted it with high specificity and low sensitivity. The combination of LS and CT improved sensitivity by up to 87 per cent but not specificity. The positive image of nodes in LS was associated with malignant cell involvement and/or reactive changes in the nodes, especially sinus histiocytosis and germinal center hyperplasia. When cervical nodes were involved, bilateral images of lymph flows were often lost and by using the images of lymph flow as well as those of the nodes, the combination predicted cervical nodal involvement with a sensitivity of 83 per cent and a specificity of 86 per cent. Thus, the combination of LS and CT is beneficial for preoperatively estimating cervical nodal involvement in esophageal cancer.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Surgery, Medical College of Oita, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuwahara
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaketani
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hirao
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyahara
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimoda
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000556:secondary*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000556:secondary*; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D011300:Preoperative Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed