A suspected [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-negative metastatic lymph node successfully diagnosed by laparoscopic staging in esophageal cancer: report of two cases.
An accurate preoperative staging is important for selecting an appropriate therapy for esophageal cancer. In particular, diagnosis of lymph node metastases influences the indication for radical surgery. [18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) has been widely applied primarily as a useful tool for initial staging of esophageal cancer. However, false-negative cases sometimes make it difficult to select the appropriate treatment. We report two patients with esophageal cancer and PET-negative enlarged lymph node successfully diagnosed by laparoscopic sampling. This procedure did not only allow accurate histopathological staging, but also helped to select the optimal minimally invasive management. This technique can be recommended for patients with esophageal cancer in whom the diagnosis of enlarged lymph node cannot be confirmed by preoperative imaging.
Department of Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
Atsushi
A
Takeno
Shuji
S
Takiguchi
Makoto
M
Yamasaki
Hiroshi
H
Miyata
Ryohei
R
Kawabata
Yoichiro
Y
Nushijima
Tomoki
T
Makino
Yoshiyuki
Y
Fujiwara
Kiyokazu
K
Nakajima
Toshiro
T
Nishida
Masaki
M
Mori
Yuichiro
Y
Doki
D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011379:Prognosis; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18