. 2008 Jul 2;32(9):1961–1967. doi: 10.1007/s00268-008-9657-y

Table 2.

Methodology used in the studies included for the present meta-analysis

Study (year)	n	Tracer used	Tracer volume and dose	Injection site	Imaging SN	Histopathology	Method of surgery
Dixon et al. [9] (2000)	40	Isosulfan blue dye	0,18 ml (Max. 0.7 ml)	Intratumoral	–	Frozen section	Central or lateral modified lymph node (lnn) dissection (clinical indication)
Kelemen et al. [18] (1998)	17	Isosulfan blue dye	0.5 ml (0.1–0.8 ml)	Intratumoral	–	Frozen biopsy, standard HE technique, and IHC cytokeratin	Total thyroidectomy (n = 16), lobectomy (n = 1) Central lymph node dissection (n = 3, positive sn)
Haigh and Giuliano [19] (2000)	38	Isosulfan blue dye	0.5–1.0 ml	Intratumoral	–	HE (2 sections) IHC cytokeratin (2 additional sections, in case of negative HE)	Thyroidectomy
Arch-Ferrer et al. [20] (2001)	22	Isosulfan blue dye	0.5 ml	Intratumoral	–	HE, IHC-cytokeratin-7 only on HE negative SN	Total thyroidectomy Dissection lymph nodes ipsilateral central compartment
Takami et al. [21] (2003)	68	Isosulfan blue dye	0.3 ml	4 quadrant injection	–	HE staining	Subtotal thyroidectomy & central and modified ipsilateral lnn dissection (routine)
Tsugawa et al. [22] (2002)	38	Patent blue dye	0.2–0.5 ml	Intratumoral	–	HE	Lobectomy and isthmusectomy (n = 28)
							Total thyroidectomy (n = 10)
							Modified radical neck dissection, ipsilateral (n = 28)
							Modified radical neck dissection, bilateral (n = 8)
Pelizzo et al. [16] (2001)	29	Patent blue dye V (0.5%)	0.25 ml per cm tumor size	Intratumoral	–	Snap-frozen sampling	Total thyroidectomy
Pelizzo et al. [16] (2001)	29	Patent blue dye V (0.5%)	0.25 ml per cm tumor size	Intratumoral	–	Snap-frozen sampling	Laterocervical lnn dissection (in case positive SN)
Chow et al. [23] (2004)	15	Patent blue dye V (2.5%)	0.5–1.0 ml	Intratumoral	–	Routine	Total thyroidectomy (n = 8)
							Hemithyroidectomy (n = 7)
							Central compartment lymphadenectomy (n = 15)
Fukui et al. [24] (2001)	22	Methylene blue dye	0.1 ml 4 quadrant	Peritumoral	–	0.2 mm sections, HE, IHC on all nodes	Subtotal thyroidectomy (n = 22)
Fukui et al. [24] (2001)	22	Methylene blue dye	0.1 ml 4 quadrant	Peritumoral	–	0.2 mm sections, HE, IHC on all nodes	Modified radical neck dissection (n = 22)
Dzodic et al. [15] (2006)	40	Methylene blue dye	0.2 ml	Peritumoral	–	HE, IHC only on SN	Total thyroidectomy (n = 40),Node dissection central compartment (n = 40),SN biopsy (n = 37),Modified radical neck dissection (n = 9, positive node intraoperative)
Sahin et al. [25] (2001)	13	^99mTc colloid	0.2 ml 15 MBq	Intratumoral	Dynamic and static imaging	Frozen section, IHC only on SN	ND
Stoeckli et al. [10] (2002)	10	^99mTc sulfur colloid	0.2 ml20 MBq	Intratumoral^a	Dynamic and static imaging	Serial sectioning, HE and cytokeratin staining	SN resection, hemithyroidectomy
Stoeckli et al. [10] (2002)	10	^99mTc sulfur colloid	0.2 ml20 MBq	Intratumoral^a	Dynamic and static imaging	Serial sectioning, HE and cytokeratin staining	No neck lnn dissection
Pelizzo et al. [17] (2006)	41	^99mTc nanocolloid	0.1–0.2 ml 6 MBq	Intratumoral	Dynamic and static imaging	At least one section, HE IHC on all nodes	Thyroid surgery, SN resection (nodes >10% activity of the hottest lymph node) Lymphadenectomy of involved compartment of metastasis positive SN (intraoperative)
Carcoforo et al. [14] (2007)	64	^99mTc nanocolloid	0.3 ml 120 MBq	Peritumoral (ultrasound guided)	Static	HE	Total thyroidectomy
							Probe guided SN detection
							Lymphadenectomy guided by inspection’/palpation

^aChange protocol, initial start with peritumoral injection and later intratumoral injection

ND not described, HE hematoxylin and eosin staining, IHC immunohistochemistry