The Lymphatic Drain of Below-Knee Malignant Melanoma: Is the Popliteal Fossa a Ghost Station?

Abstract Sentinel lymph node biopsy is fundamental in the staging of primary cutaneous melanoma (PCL), but reported lymphoscintigraphic patterns are very heterogeneous. In this systematic review, we evaluated role popliteal station below-knee PCL. A search literature through was conducted on electronic databases PubMed, SCOPUS, and Web Science (WOS) to identify eligible studies. total 22 studies ( n =5673 patients) were included. During analysis included articles, it not possible classify patients into 3 Menes drainage pattern, obtained by lymphoscintigraphy. The lymphatic undergoing lymphoscintigraphy for lower extremities below knee 5637 type only 5.64% (320 patients). rate nodes metastases 1.49%: they located exclusively at level 0.60%, inguinal levels 0.39%, iliac 0.02%, groin 0.48%. conclusion, most common pattern represented in-transit or interval nodes, so from melanomas commonly transit stations arrive stations. about cases. Larger needed corroborate these findings.