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Updated: Mar 9, 2026
Use of Electromagnetic Navigational Transthoracic Needle Aspiration E-TTNA for Sampling of Lung Nodules
Published on: May 23, 2015
Biopsy of the sentinel node in lung cancer
Naia Uribe-Etxebarria Lugariza-Aresti1, Ramón Barceló Galíndez2, Joaquín Pac Ferrer1
1Servicio de Cirugía Torácica, Hospital Universitario de Cruces, Barakaldo, Vizcaya, España.
Introduction And Objective:
Mediastinal lymph node involvement can be understaged in cases of lung cancer (up to 20% in stage i). Sentinel node detection is a standard technique recommended in breast cancer and melanoma action guidelines, and could also be useful in cases of lung cancer.
Material And Methods:
Considering the detection of the sentinel node in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as feasible, a prospective cohort study was carried out on 48 patients with resectable NSCLC, using the intraoperative injection of colloid sulphate technetium-99.
Results:
The radioisotope migrated in all cases. The procedure's sensitivity was 88.24%, its accuracy was 95.83%, its negative predictive value was 93.94% and the false negative rate was 11.76%. No complications were associated with this technique.
Conclusions:
The detection of a sentinel node in NSCLC with the intraoperative injection of the isotope is feasible and safe, and allows for detection and sensitivity rates comparable to those of other tumour types.
