PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Vermeeren, Lenka
AU  - Valdés Olmos, Renato A.
AU  - Klop, W. Martin C.
AU  - Balm, Alfons J.M.
AU  - van den Brekel, Michiel W.M.
TI  - A Portable γ-Camera for Intraoperative Detection of Sentinel Nodes in the Head and Neck Region
AID  - 10.2967/jnumed.109.071407
DP  - 2010 May 01
TA  - Journal of Nuclear Medicine
PG  - 700--703
VI  - 51
IP  - 5
4099  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/51/5/700.short
4100  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/51/5/700.full
SO  - J Nucl Med2010 May 01; 51
AB  - We introduced and evaluated a portable γ-camera for intraoperative visualization of sentinel nodes in the head and neck region. Methods: Planar lymphoscintigraphy and SPECT/CT were performed after peritumoral injection of 99mTc-nanocolloid in 25 patients (head and neck melanoma or oral cavity carcinoma). Sentinel nodes were localized intraoperatively with a portable γ-camera and a hand-held γ-probe. The portable γ-camera was used to determine the distribution of remaining radioactivity after excision of the sentinel nodes. Results: The portable γ-camera visualized all 70 preoperatively identified sentinel nodes. Sentinel nodes at difficult sites could be localized more efficiently, and in 6 patients, 9 additional nodes (1 tumor-positive) were identified with the portable γ-camera after excision. Conclusion: Intraoperative identification of sentinel nodes in the head and neck region with a portable γ-camera is feasible and might lead to detection of more sentinel nodes.