Lymphatic mapping and sentinel node biopsy: A surgical perspective

Fluorescence Imaging and Whole-Body Biodistribution of Near-Infrared-Emitting Quantum Dots after Subcutaneous Injection for Regional Lymph Node Mapping in Mice

“…Despite the significant improvement of SLNB over ALDN, the problems related to an extra cost of the radioisotope, to allergic reactions and in a few cases anaphylactic shocks after radiocolloid or blue dye injection, and the overall procedure duration are limiting factors for this technique [8][9][10][11]. Moreover, lymphatic mapping with blue dye results in a high rate of false-positive nodes because the small dye molecules can readily diffuse through the true SLN and traverse multiple nodes [12]. Additionally, blue dye has poor tissue contrast and is difficult to detect in deep, dark anatomical regions such as the abdomen.…”

Using the intraoperative hand held probe without lymphoscintigraphy or using only dye correlates with higher sensory morbidity following sentinel lymph node biopsy in breast cancer: A review of the literature

“…Surgeons from ours and other institutions find LS and triangulated body marking (TBM) or other skin marking techniques essential during SLNB [22-26], while others do not find the images or markings helpful [27-29]. …”

Preoperative lymphoscintigraphy and triangulated patient body marking are important parts of the sentinel node process in breast cancer

“…This is repeated in the 45° projection, as lateral views are blocked by the arm in the surgical position. Triangulation into the body along the anterior and 45° projection of the skin surface markings estimates SN location at the crossover point in the body [2,3,16]. The TBM technique can be useful in select patients by shorting the time of the initial probe survey during surgery.…”

“…What is required to obtain the best LS images and the most accurate TBM, is a full understanding of the issues and details involved in the techniques of injection, LS imaging and TBM [2-7,10,16,17,24,26-28]. …”