Sentinel lymph node detection by combined dye-isotope technique and its predictive value for cervical lymph node metastasis in patients with lingual carcinoma

Objectives To investigate the clinical value of combined dye-isotope technique in detecting sentinel lymph node (SLN) and to examine whether the characteristics of SLN accurately predict cervical lymph node metastasis in lingual carcinoma. Methods Thirty patients with lingual carcinoma without lymph metastasis were injected with a dose of about 18.5 MBq of 99mTc-SC (sulfur colloid), around the tumor tissues before surgery, and lymphoscintigraphy was performed 5, 10, 30, 60 minutes, and 6 hours after injection. In the following day, all patients were injected with isosulfan blue dye around the primary tumor during surgery to trace SLN and underwent standard cervical lymph node dissection after SLN dissection. The pathological results of SLN were compared with standard lymph node dissection for their ability to accurately predict the final pathological status of the cervical lymph nodes.Results SLN was successfully identified in 100% of the patients. Both positive and negative predictive values of SLN were 100%. The accuracy rate was 100%, and there were no false negatives. Conclusions The detection of SLN using combined dye-isotope technique could accurately predict cervical lymph node metastasis in lingual carcinoma.