Acral malignant melanoma; emphasis on the primary metastasis and the usefulness of preoperative ultrasound for sentinel lymph node metastasis

This study aimed to evaluate the most common primary metastatic location of acral malignant melanoma and to evaluate the usefulness of preoperative ultrasound for sentinel lymph node metastasis. Ninety-eight Korean acral malignant melanoma patients were enrolled. Acral malignant melanoma was present in 76 lower limbs and in 22 upper limbs. The most common origin location was the sole (33.7%). The most common location of primary metastasis was loco-regional recurrence (22/34, 64.7%). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of preoperative sentinel lymph node ultrasound was 29.1%, 94.6%, 63.6%, and 80.5%, respectively. We postulate the unusefulness of preoperative ultrasound for sentinel lymph node metastasis in acral malignant melanoma.