Alvarez-Sanchez et al: Comparison of indirect computed tomographic lymphography and near-infrared fluorescence sentinel lymph node mapping for integumentary canine mast cell tumors
Veterinary Surgery 3, 2023

🔍 Key Findings

• Combined ICTL and NIRF detected the same SLN in 80% of cases; each method alone missed sentinel lymph nodes in some dogs.
• ICLT failed in 5% of dogs, while NIRF failed in 20%; combined use resulted in only 5% failure in SLN detection.
• Metastatic lymph nodes were detected in 95% of dogs, despite most tumors being low or intermediate grade (95%).
• 27 of 41 nodes (65.8%) were histologically metastatic (HN2 or HN3), many of which would have been missed using ALN alone.
• ALN matched the SLN in only 45% of cases with ICTL and 30% with NIRF, supporting the need for SLN mapping.
• ICLT and NIRF were complementary, often identifying different SLN, with some only fluorescent or enhanced in one modality.
• Subcutaneous MCT had higher metastatic rates (7/8 dogs) than previously reported, challenging older assumptions about benign behavior.
• Removing both ALN and SLN (from both methods) improved detection of metastasis to 85–95%, reducing risk of understaging.