Safety and Feasibility of Near Infrared Image-Guided Lymphatic Mapping of Regional Lymph Nodes in Esophageal Cancer

摘要

ObjectiveTo assess safety and feasibility of an intraoperative, minimally invasive NIR image-guided approach to lymphatic mapping in esophageal cancer patients. Although local lymph nodes (LNs) are removed with the esophageal specimen, no techniques are available to identify the regional LNs (separate from the esophagus) during esophagectomy. We hypothesize that NIR imaging can identify regional LNs with potential to improve staging and the extent of lymphadenectomy (LAD).