[Skin melanomas of the head and neck: therapeutic value of cervical lymphatic dissection].

There is a conflicting evidence regarding the value of a regional lymph node dissection in early clinical stages of head and neck Melanomas. The AA. reviewed the clinical histories of 500 patients presenting a malignant melanoma localized in the head and neck region and treated in their Hospital between 1967 and 1987. Results showed that the prophylactic neck dissection is necessary for lesions between 0.75 and 1.5 mm in thickness, whereas in tumours with a depth of invasion greater than 1.5 mm the outcome of the disease is not improved by the prophylactic neck dissection.