Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, Athens, Georgia, USA.
Department of Veterinary Biosciences and Diagnostic Imaging, University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, Athens, Georgia, USA.
Vet Comp Oncol. 2020 Dec;18(4):818-824. doi: 10.1111/vco.12592. Epub 2020 Mar 30.
Canine melanomas and mast cell tumours (MCTs) frequently metastasize to lymph nodes, worsening prognosis compared with dogs without metastasis. Sentinel lymph node (SLN) evaluation is more specific than evaluation of the lymph node closest to the tumour, which may not be the draining lymph node. Computed tomography lymphangiography (CTL) allows for SLN identification and one study of canine mammary tumours found that CTL was able to assist in determination of the metastatic status of inguinal SLNs prior to extirpation and histopathology. The objective of the present study was to evaluate CTL for use in determining metastasis to the SLN in dogs with a pre-operative diagnosis of melanoma or MCT in various locations by correlating CTL findings with histopathology. The hypothesis was that CTL would not be able to determine the metastatic status of lymph nodes, based on author experience. Dogs were prospectively enrolled and underwent CTL and subsequent SLN extirpation. Histopathology results for the primary tumour, SLN, and additional extirpated lymph nodes were recorded. Fifteen dogs were enrolled and 21 SLN were evaluated. The SLN enhancement pattern (heterogeneous, homogenous or peripheral) was not associated with metastasis, nor was the attenuation value at 1 minute, 5 minutes, or the change in attenuation value. No correlation was found between CTL findings and metastatic status of SLNs. Based on these results, CTL alone cannot be used to diagnose SLN metastasis. Extirpation of the SLN with histopathology is recommended to diagnose lymph node metastasis in dogs with melanoma and MCT.
犬黑色素瘤和肥大细胞瘤（MCT）常转移至淋巴结，与无转移的犬相比预后更差。前哨淋巴结（SLN）评估比评估最接近肿瘤的淋巴结更具特异性，因为后者可能不是引流淋巴结。计算机断层扫描淋巴管造影（CTL）可用于识别 SLN，一项关于犬乳腺肿瘤的研究发现，CTL 能够在切除和组织病理学检查之前协助确定腹股沟 SLN 的转移状态。本研究的目的是通过将 CTL 结果与组织病理学结果相关联，评估 CTL 在术前诊断为黑色素瘤或 MCT 的各种部位的犬中用于确定 SLN 转移的用途。根据作者的经验，该假设为 CTL 无法确定淋巴结的转移状态。前瞻性招募了犬，并进行了 CTL 和随后的 SLN 切除。记录了原发性肿瘤、SLN 和额外切除的淋巴结的组织病理学结果。共纳入 15 只犬，评估了 21 个 SLN。SLN 增强模式（不均匀、均匀或外周）与转移无关，1 分钟、5 分钟时的衰减值或衰减值变化也与转移无关。CTL 结果与 SLN 的转移状态之间未发现相关性。基于这些结果，单独使用 CTL 不能用于诊断 SLN 转移。建议切除 SLN 进行组织病理学检查，以诊断患有黑色素瘤和 MCT 的犬的淋巴结转移。
