Source

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland. reita.nyberg@pshp.fi

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To examine whether the intraoperative combined injection technique is feasible in locating the sentinel node(s) of the ovary.

METHODS/MATERIALS:

In 16 patients with high-risk uterine cancer and normal postmenopausal ovaries, technetium isotope and blue dye were injected in the right or left ovary during laparotomy, respectively. During the operation, the pelvic and para-aortic lymphatic areas were searched, and the number, method of detection, and location(s) of the hot and/or bluenode(s) were recorded.

RESULTS:

One to 3 sentinel nodes per patient were identified in all but 1 patient (15 of 16, 94%). The sentinel nodes (n = 30) were all located in the para-aortic area. The sentinel nodes of the left ovary were mainly (9 of 14, 64%) located above the inferior mesenteric artery level, as the most sentinel nodes of the right ovary (15 of 16, 94%) were found below the inferior mesenteric artery level (P = 0.001). There were no contralateral or bilateral sentinel nodes.

CONCLUSIONS:

The combined intraoperative injection technique with radioisotope and blue dye is fast enough to identify the ovarian sentinel node(s). The stained nodes were consistently located on a certain lymphatic area. The sentinel nodeconcept for the early ovarian cancer deserves more attention.

International Journal of Gynecological Cancer

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