01-09-2008
Tattoo Pigment Interpreted as Lymph Node Metastasis in a Case of Subungual Melanoma
Published in: HAND | Issue 3/2008
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We present a patient with subungual melanoma of the thumb who, during radioisotope-guided selective sentinel lymphadenectomy, was found to have black, hard lymph nodes at multiple axillary node levels. This finding was interpreted intraoperatively as clinical evidence of metastasis and a formal axillary dissection was carried out. Pathological examination of excised nodes failed to demonstrate metastasis but instead showed collections of tattoo pigment.