title: Superficial parotidectomy in the treatment of cutaneous melanoma of the head and neck.
abstract: The preauricular lymph nodes are frequently the first site of metastatic disease from primary malignant melanoma of the upper two-thirds of the face or the anterior scalp. For these patients, or those with adjacent metastatic nodal disease, the prognosis is poor. The median survival of 13 such patients presented was 2 years, with two long-term survivors at 4 and 6 years. Palliative surgery can, however, prevent uncontrolled locoregional disease. Patients with palpable preauricular and cervical node disease should be treated by facial nerve-preserving parotidectomy and radical neck dissection. When no cervical nodes are palpable in patients with preauricular node metastasis, peroperative jugulodigastric node biopsy and frozen-section histopathological examination are useful to select patients for radical neck dissection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Royal Marsden Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Barr
authors.forename: A I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Skene
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fish
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008545:Melanoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D037981:Neck Dissection; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D010306:Parotid Gland / Q000601:surgery*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*