title: Tattoo pigment interpreted as lymph node metastasis in a case of subungual melanoma.
abstract: We present a patient with subungual melanoma of the thumb who, during radioisotope-guided selective sentinel lymphadenectomy, was found to have black, hard lymph nodes at multiple axillary node levels. This finding was interpreted intraoperatively as clinical evidence of metastasis and a formal axillary dissection was carried out. Pathological examination of excised nodes failed to demonstrate metastasis but instead showed collections of tattoo pigment.
authors.affiliation: Hand Surgery Section, Departments of Orthopedics and Surgery, Denver Health Medical Center and University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO, USA. slpdvmmd@aol.com
authors.forename: Steven L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: Lela A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kagan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ozer
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Fitzpatrick
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