Detection of sentinel lymph node of rabbit thyroid by fluorescence imaging / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To detect the sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) of rabbit thyroid by fluorescence imaging and to provide experimental evidence for its clinical application.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Equal concentration and dose (35 nmol/L, 1 ml) of ICG (indocyanine green) or ICGCSA (calf serum albumin) complex was injected into rabbit thyroid to measure the their fluorescence amount. Twenty rabbits were randomly divided into ICG group and ICGCSA group, with 10 rabbits each group, rabbit thyroid was separately injected with 0.02 ml of 100 nmol/L ICG and 0.02 ml of methylene, or 0.02 ml of 35 nmol/L ICGCSA and 0.02 ml of methylene, and then ICG fluorescence and methylene staining in SLN were detected respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Fluorescence amount of ICGCAS was three times that of ICG with the same concentration and dose. SLNs were showed in all rabbits injected with ICG or ICGCSA, but found only in 16 of 20 rabbits injected with methylene blue. The accuracy of fluorescence imaging and blue dye imaging were respectively 95.8% and 79.2%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Fluorescence imaging, using ICG or ICGCSA as a tracer, could be an alternative method for the detection of SLN of thyroid in future clinical practice.</p>