[Melanoma. Results with "sentinel node" sampling]

Since June 1995 we have practised a gamma probe guided sentinel lymphadenectomy (SLNE) in 274 patients after injecting a colloidal 99 m-Tc labelled solution around the tumor. By this technique the detection and excision of the SLN succeeded in 99.3% of all cases. We found micrometastases in about 53.1% of patients with pT3 and pT4 melanomas. The specimen of the radical lymph node dissection contained in 30% further metastases. A regional recurrence after SLNE occurred only in one case, a SLN-negative patient.