Objective To determine the clinical value of preoperativein vivolocation of sentinel lymph node (SLN) by lym- phoscintigraphy (LS) in oral carcinoma.Methods 10 patients with oral carcinoma were included in this study (7 male to 3 fe- male).99m Tc-dextron was injected peritumorally 24 h before surgery. Lymphoscintigraphy imageswere obtained in anterior and lat- eral views. SLNs were detected and removed with the aid of dye during surgery. A standard radical neck dissection was then per- formed, and all lymph nodes were analyzed byHE staining.Results SLNs were successfully detected in 10 regions of 8 patients via lymphoscintigraphy. Consistent with the result of LS, 15 blue-stained SLNs were identified by means of dye method in 8 of 10 regions which the LS images indicated.Conclusion This study suggests that preoperativein vivolocation of SLN via lym- phoscintigraphy should be helpful for the application of SLNB in oral carcinoma.
