Table 1.
Characteristics of the patients with clinically evident lymph node metastases
| No lymphoscintigraphy | Gamma-guided lymphadenectomy | P | |
|---|---|---|---|
| N = 42 | N = 34 | (u-Test) | |
| Lymphadenectomy concomitantly with primary tumor excision | 8 (19 %) | 21 (62 %) | 0.0002 |
| Lymphadenectomy metachronously with primary tumor excision (nodal recurrences) | 34 (81 %) | 13 (39 %) | |
| Location of macrometastasis (N) | Neck (3) | Neck (2) | |
| Axilla (23) | Axilla (19) | ||
| Groin (16) | Groin (12) | ||
| Paraproctium (1) | |||
| Follow-up (months) | 33.7 ± 43.1 | 27.4 ± 23.4 | 0.64 |
| Age, median (min–max) (years) | 65 (18–84) | 60 (30–83) | 0.99 |
| Sex, female/male | 17/25 | 16/18 | 0.62 |
| Breslow, mean ± SD (mm) | 4.65 ± 5.3 | 5.8 ± 4.7 | 0.13 |
| Breslow, median (min–max) (mm) | 3.0 (0.5–30) | 5.4 (0.65–23) | |
| Ulceration present | 17 (40.5 %) | 21 (63.6 %) | 0.10 |
| In-transit metastases prior to lymphadenectomy | 11 (26 %) | 6 (18 %) | 0.56 |
| Mean number of positive lymph nodes | 4.9 ± 5.6 | 3.8 ± 2.9 | 0.84 |
| Mean number of lymph nodes excised | 19.8 ± 20.4 | 14.5 ± 7.2 | 0.37 |