Inguinal sentinel lymph node biopsy with only blue dye in lower extremity malignant melanoma

Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy has become the standard of care in malignant melanoma, it is commonly identified by intradermal injection of both radiocolloid tracer and Patent Blue Dye (PBD) around the tumor. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of PBD in identifying inguinal SLN and also the accuracy of SLN mapping performed by peritumoral injection of PBD without combined radioisotope in malignant melanoma of lower extremity. Thirty consecutive patients with primary melanoma of lower exteremity who were referred to Cancer Institute of Tehran University of Medical Science between March 2003 to March 2006 were enrolled in this study.