Methodology: CT Lymphography

Abstract

Sentinel lymph node (SLN) navigation surgery became the routine clinical procedure in breast cancer (BC) surgery. SLN navigation has also been introduced to gastrointestinal cancer but still remains controversial for esophageal cancer, because the lymphatic network spread widely from the abdomen to the neck compared with gastric and colon cancer. We developed SLN navigation surgery using multidetector (MD) computed tomography lymphography (CTLG) with a water-soluble iodine tracer injection in BC, which predict not only the precise number and location of the SLNs but also the existence of lymph node metastasis surrounding detailed anatomy, during a screening CT for metastasis.