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Shigeru Kosuda, MD; Shoichi Kusano, MD; Naoyuki Kohno, MD; Yoshihiro Ohno, MD; Tetsuya Tanabe, MD; Satoshi Kitahara, MD; Seiichi Tamai, MD

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2003;129:1105-1109.

Objectives  To determine the feasibility of sentinal lymph node (SN) radiolocalization and to assess the cost-effectiveness of the SN navigation surgery strategy in patients with stage N0 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the head and neck.

Patients  Eleven consecutive patients with stage N0 SCC of the head and neck.

Methods  Head and neck lymphoscintigraphy was performed 2 hours after the injection of technetium Tc 99m tin colloid or phytate. A handheld gamma probe was used to detect the SN before and directly after making a skin incision. Nodes were evaluated histopathologically for micrometastasis. To determine the expected cost savings, a decision tree sensitivity analysis was designed based on the 2 competing strategies: ipsilateral neck dissection vs SN navigation surgery. The costs referred to billed costs based on the Japanese national insurance reimbursement system.

Results  The sensitivity of SN navigation surgery in our series was 100% (11/11) on a patient-by-patient basis and 94% (17/18) on a node-by-node basis. Micrometastasis was found in 36% (4/11). Assuming the micrometastasis prevalence, sensitivity, and specificity of navigation surgery for detecting SN to be 30%, 90%, and 100%, respectively, the decision tree sensitivity analysis showed that introduction of SN navigation surgery in place of ipsilateral neck dissection would yield cost savings of $1218 (US) per stage N0 patient in Japan and avoid 7 surgical deaths per 1000 patients who are supposed to undergo neck dissection in the neck dissection strategy. Break-even point analysis for the SN navigation surgery strategy showed that the threshold value required more than 41 patients for the savings to begin to accrue.

Conclusion  Our results indicate that SN navigation surgery using radiolocalization is feasible and cost-effective, based on decision tree sensitivity analysis, in patients with stage N0 SCC of the head and neck.

From the Departments of Radiology (Drs Kosuda and Kusano), Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (Drs Tanabe and Kitahara), and Laboratory Medicine (Dr Tamai), National Defense Medical College, Tokorozawa, Japan; and the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan (Drs Kohno and Ohno). The authors have no relevant financial interest in this article.

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