Accuracy of sentinel lymph node in papillary thyroid carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
The sentinel lymph node has been used in several tumors. The aim of this study was to analyze the accuracy of the sentinel node in papillary thyroid carcinoma.


METHODS
A series of 22 patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma were included. Approximately 0.5 cc of isosulfan blue dye was injected at operation to trace the sentinel node. Lymph node dissection of the ipsilateral central compartment and extensive sampling of the jugular compartment were performed in addition to sentinel node resection. Surgical specimens were stained with hematoxylin-eosin, and negative sentinel nodes were subsequently stained with immunohistochemistry for cytokeratin-7.


RESULTS
Mean age was 37 +/- 14 years. Twenty patients were women, and 2 were men. Mean tumor size was 2.5 +/- 1 cm. A sentinel lymph node was found in 20 patients. With use of hematoxylin-eosin, metastases were identified in 12/20 sentinel nodes (60%). Eleven patients with positive sentinel nodes presented additional lymph node metastases: 9 in the central compartment, 1 in the jugular compartment, and 1 in both compartments. Two patients with negative sentinel nodes had lymph node metastases elsewhere. When sentinel nodes were processed by immunohistochemistry, accuracy increased to 100%.


CONCLUSIONS
Sentinel node is highly accurate for diagnosing metastases in papillary thyroid carcinoma.
Arch-Ferrer
J
J
Department of Surgery, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutricíon, Tlalpan, Mexico City, Mexico.
Velázquez
D
D
Fajardo
R
R
Gamboa-Domínguez
A
A
Herrera
M F
MF
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013965:Thyroidectomy