title: Utility of diffusion-weighted imaging in the diagnosis of inguinal lymph node metastasis with malignant melanoma.
abstract: Malignant melanoma is a malignancy of pigment-producing cells (melanocytes) located predominantly in the skin. Nodal metastases are an adverse prognostic factor compromising long term patient survival. Therefore, accurate detection of regional nodal metastases is required for optimization of treatment. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) remain the primary imaging modalities for regional staging of malignant melanoma. However, both modalities rely on size-related and morphological criteria to differentiate between benign and malignant lymph nodes, decreasing the sensitivity for detection of small metastases. Surgery is the primary mode of therapy for localized cutaneous melanoma. Patients should be followed up for metastases after surgical removal. We report here a case of inguinal lymph node enlargement with a genital vesicular lesion with a history of surgery for malignant melanoma on her thigh two years ago. CT and diffusion weighted-MRI (DW-MRI) were applied for the lymph node identification. DW-MRI revealed malignant lymph nodes due to malignant melanoma metastases correlation with pathological findings.
authors.affiliation: Ummugulsum Bayraktutan, Mecit Kantarci, Berhan Pirimoglu, Hayri Ogul, Aylin Okur, Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Atatürk University, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ummugulsum
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bayraktutan
authors.affiliation: Ummugulsum Bayraktutan, Mecit Kantarci, Berhan Pirimoglu, Hayri Ogul, Aylin Okur, Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Atatürk University, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mecit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kantarci
authors.affiliation: Ummugulsum Bayraktutan, Mecit Kantarci, Berhan Pirimoglu, Hayri Ogul, Aylin Okur, Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Atatürk University, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey.
authors.forename: Berhan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pirimoglu
authors.affiliation: Ummugulsum Bayraktutan, Mecit Kantarci, Berhan Pirimoglu, Hayri Ogul, Aylin Okur, Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Atatürk University, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hayri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ogul
authors.affiliation: Ummugulsum Bayraktutan, Mecit Kantarci, Berhan Pirimoglu, Hayri Ogul, Aylin Okur, Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Atatürk University, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey.
authors.forename: Aylin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Okur
authors.affiliation: Ummugulsum Bayraktutan, Mecit Kantarci, Berhan Pirimoglu, Hayri Ogul, Aylin Okur, Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Atatürk University, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nesrin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gursan
keywords: Apparent diffusion coefficient; Diffusion-weighted imaging; Inguinal lymph node; Magnetic resonance imaging; Malignant melanoma; Metastasis