The purpose of this study was to examine the clinical usefulness of preoperative lymphoscintigraphy (PLS) for sentinel node identification in patients undergoing lymphatic mapping during surgery for early cervical cancer.
Patients and methods: Day-before PLS was performed in 42 patients who were candidates for open radical hysterectomy and intraoperative lymphatic mapping, using a combination of radiocolloid and blue dye technique.
Results: In 39 patients, at least one sentinel node (SN) was evident either in the lymphoscintigram or during the operation (detection rate 92.8%). Lymphoscintigraphy revealed unilateral SNs in 24 (61.5%) cases and bilateral SNs in 15 (38.5%). A total of 56 SNs were identified. Intraoperatively, 5 out of 24 patients with unilateral SNs on PLS had bilateral identification. The total number of SNs retrieved was 103 (2.6/patient). While one SN was identified in 25 cases on PLS, 32 patients had two or more SNs intraoperatively. The agreement between preoperative and intraoperative detection regarding laterality, number and location of SNs was poor (Kappa<0.69).
Conclusion: PLS is of limited clinical value for intraoperative SN detection in early cervical cancer.