Scintigraphic evaluation of lymphatic draining pathways in patients treated with pectoralis major (PM) and deltopectoralis (DP) myocutaneous flaps for oropharyngeal cancer

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984 · J. Nucl. Med.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6781123

Fernandez-Ulloa, M; Silver, F M; Vasavada, P J

Oropharyngeal tumors are routinely treated with extensive surgical resection and radiotherapy followed by PM and DP myocutaneous flaps performed for reconstruction purposes. The lymph vessels are the main pathways of oropharyngeal tumor dissemination and play an important role in the development of local recurrences and regional tumor invasion. To evaluate the local and regional residual pathways of lymphatic drainage after flap reconstruction, 25 pts (pts) were imaged 2-3 hours post-administration of .5 mCi of Tc-99m antimony colloid in the flaps. All pts had extensive tumor resection and PM (21 pts) or DP (4 pts) flaps. Fifteen pts had neck radiotherapy prior to the scintigrams. Following are the scintigraphic findings: 1) eight pts showed no visualization of lymph nodes although 4 of these had radiocolloid accumulation within the liver; 2) contralateral or ipsilateral cervical lymph nodes were seen in 16 pts; 3) xyphoid or internal mammary nodes were seen in 4 pts; 4) axillary nodes were seen in 5 pts; 5) liver visualization was present in 12 pts. Findings indicate that pathways of lymph drainage re-establish following head and neck surgery and flap reconstruction in most pts. These pathways are variable and unpredictable and lymphoscintigraphy may therefore play a major role to predict sites of future metastases and in planning therapy.

• Research Organization: E.L. Saenger Radioisotope Lab., Dept. of Radiology, Dept. Otolaryngology and Maxillofacial Surgery, Univ. of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
• OSTI ID: 6781123
• Report Number(s): CONF-840619-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: J. Nucl. Med.; (United States) Journal Volume: 25:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550601* -- Medicine-- Unsealed Radionuclides in Diagnostics
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
ANATOMY
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS
BODY
BODY AREAS
COUNTING TECHNIQUES
DIAGNOSIS
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
DIAGNOSTIC USES
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
DISEASES
DRAINAGE
GLANDS
HEAD
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
IMAGE PROCESSING
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
LIVER
LYMPH NODES
LYMPH VESSELS
LYMPHATIC SYSTEM
MEDICINE
METASTASES
MUSCLES
NECK
NEOPLASMS
NUCLEAR MEDICINE
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ORAL CAVITY
ORGANS
PATIENTS
PHARYNX
PLANNING
PROCESSING
RADIOISOTOPE SCANNING
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIOLOGY
RADIONUCLIDE ADMINISTRATION
RADIOTHERAPY
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
SCINTISCANNING
SURGERY
TECHNETIUM 99
TECHNETIUM ISOTOPES
THERAPY
TRACER TECHNIQUES
USES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES