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Updated: Jun 23, 2026
"Sun's Seven-Step Technique" for Endoscopic En-Bloc Resection of Thyroid Cancer via the Chest-Breast Approach
Published on: November 28, 2025
[Surgical exploration of the sentinel lymph nodes in the papillary thyroid carcinoma]
1Hôpital Ren-Ji, Université Jiao-Tong de Shanghai, Service d'ORL et Chirurgie Cervical, 145 rue la Shan Dong Zhong, 200001 Shanghai, China. drjiadongw@yahoo.com.cn
Objective:
To study the technique of sentinel lymph node mapping in the papillary thyroid carcinoma and its evaluation in the search for cervical metastases.
Method:
Exploration of the sentinel lymph nodes of the papillary thyroid carcinoma by injection of methylene blue around the tumour among 25 patients during surgery. The nodes which stained blue and the other nodes removed by functional neck dissection were examined histologically after staining with hematoxylin-eosin-saffron (HES). We have evaluated the predictive value of the technique in mapping the cervical metastases in the sentinel lymph node.
Results:
Among the 25 patients, 22 patients presented sentinel lymph nodes (blue-stained), that is to say a rate of identification of 88%. At histological examination, 19 of the 22 patients had positive sentinel lymph nodes, of which 13 had also positive nodes not coloured with blue. The histological examination of patients without sentinel lymph node was negative.
Conclusion:
The technique of the sentinel lymph node has a strong positive predictive value in the search for cervical node metastases in the papillary thyroid carcinoma.
