[Regional metastatic disease in oral SCC identified by preventive lymphatic nodes dissection]

The study included 159 patients with oral SCC in which metastatic patterns were evaluated after preventive lymphatic node dissection. Lymphatic node metastasis were found out in 24.5% of patients with the most common sites in subdigastrial (IIA) (69.2%) and submandibular (IB) (34.2%) and medium deep jugular (III) (28.2%) nodes. Involving of the IV level (lower deep jugular nodes) was noted in 5.2% of cases, both VA and VB - 2.6%. These results advocate preventive neck dissections in order to eliminate possible metastasis on all levels.