Sentinel node biopsy and ultrasound scanning in cutaneous melanoma

Ultrasonography Using Simple Diagnostic Criteria vs Palpation for the Detection of Regional Lymph Node Metastases of Melanoma

“…As a longterm recurrence-free follow-up was required to define nonmetastatic nodes, however, this bias did not seem to distort our conclusions. Finally, and as in all published studies (except one in which nodal status was defined by initial LM/SL, 11 and another in which only 1 set of paired clini- cal and ultrasonographic examinations was performed per patient 8 ) paired palpation and ultrasonographic examinations were not independent events for a single individual, as a given patient with stage I or stage II melanoma has only 1 probability of progressing to nodal involvement during follow-up. This fact may have artificially enhanced the diagnostic accuracy of both palpation and ultrasonography, although this is difficult to establish.…”

The contribution of high-resolution ultrasonography in preoperatively detecting sentinel-node metastases in melanoma patients

“…Previous studies demonstrated that, during patient follow-up, high-resolution ultrasonography (hrUS), an inexpensive procedure, is better able to detect melanoma LN metastases than palpation [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. A few studies assessed the ability of hrUS to detect SN metastases preoperatively, with contradictory results [20][21][22].…”

The role of preoperative ultrasound scan in detecting lymph node metastasis before sentinel node biopsy in melanoma patients

“…In an attempt to optimize the preoperative staging process in patients with primary CM, the implementation of non-invasive technologies such as US scan may provide some advantages. The efficacy of US scan in detecting superficial LN metastases has already been demonstrated [15][16][17][18]. To our knowledge, no prospective study assessing the efficiency of US scans to screen patients' candidates for SNB has been reported.…”