title: Detection of sentinel lymph nodes in patients with early stage cervical cancer.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of identifying the sentinel lymph nodes (SNs) as well as to evaluate factors that might influence the SN detection rate in patients with cervical cancer of the uterus. Eighty nine patients underwent intracervical injection of 1% isosulfan blue dye at the time of planned radical hysterectomy and lymphadenectomy between January 2003 and December 2003. With the visual detection of lymph nodes that stained blue, SNs were identified and removed separately. Then all patients underwent complete pelvic lymph node dissection and/or para-aortic lymph node dissection. SNs were identified in 51 of 89 (57.3%) patients. The most common site for SN detection was the external iliac area. Metastatic nodes were detected in 21 of 89 (23.5%) patients. One false negative SN was obtained. Successful SN detection was more likely in patients younger than 50 yr (p=0.02) and with a history of preoperative conization (p=0.05). However, stage, histological type, surgical procedure and neoadjuvant chemotherapy showed no significant difference for SN detection rate. Therefore, the identification of SNs with isosulfan blue dye is feasible and safe. The SN detection rate was high in patients younger than 50 yr or with a history of preoperative conization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kangnam Cha Hospital, College of Medicine, Pochon Cha University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seok Ju
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Seong
authors.forename: Hyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Kwang Moon
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Tae Jin
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kyung Taek
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Jae Uk
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: Chong Taik
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Ki Heon
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*