Value of intraoperative imprint cytology of sentinel nodes in patients with cervical cancer

Objective. The purpose of this study was to evaluate intraoperative imprint cytology (IC) for the detection of sentinel node (SN) involvement in patients with cervical cancer. Methods. Thirty-six consecutive patients with cervical cancer underwent a laparoscopic SN procedure with intraoperative IC, followed by complete laparoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy, with or without laparoscopic para-aortic lymphadenectomy. The SN was bisected and both cut surfaces were applied to the surface of glass slides. Permanent sections were stained with H&E and immunohistochemical methods. The IC results were compared with the final histological results. Results. At least one SN (mean: 2 SN per patient, range: 1-5) was detected in 34 of the 36 patients. Eight patients (22.2%) had a total of 12 metastatic SNs (four macrometastatic, five micrometastatic, and three with isolated tumor cells). No false-negative results of SN biopsy were obtained. Only one metastasis was identified by IC. No false-positive findings were obtained with IC. The overall sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive and negative predictive values of IC were 8.3%, 100%, 85.7%, 100%, and 85.5%, respectively. Conclusion. These results suggest that intraoperative imprint cytology of sentinel nodes is unreliable in patients with cervical cancer. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.