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Value of liver scintigraphy in pretreatment staging and in follow‐up of patients with malignant melanoma
Author(s) -
Jönsson PerEbbe,
Hafström Larsolof,
Hugander Anders,
Cederquist Ebbe
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal of surgical oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.201
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1096-9098
pISSN - 0022-4790
DOI - 10.1002/jso.2930290107
Subject(s) - medicine , scintigraphy , melanoma , predictive value , stage (stratigraphy) , radiology , gastroenterology , nuclear medicine , paleontology , cancer research , biology
Liver scintigraphy ( 99 Tc m sulphur colloid) was performed in 118 patients with malignant melanoma. In 73 patients diagnosed as stage I, the pretreatment evaluation showed one false‐negative and one false‐positive examination. During follow‐up there were ten abnormal liver scintigraphies; one was later correlated to liver metastases. In 46 patients diagnosed as stage II‐IV, the pretreatment liver scintigraphy yielded false‐negative results in 36% and false‐positive results in 15%. The predictive values of positive and negative tests were 44% and 81%, respectively. The yields of liver tests (S‐alkaline phosphatase, S‐gamma‐glutamyl‐transferase) in patients with liver metastases were low. This study demonstrated the limitations of liver scintigraphy for diagnosis of liver metastases in patients with malignant melanoma.