[Level choice of the neck dissection in clinical N0 @entity1 with XXXX ].

@entity5 @entity1 @entity3
OBJECTIVE: To study the characteristics of the cervical lymph node @entity3 in negative node with clinically @entity5 @entity1 and decide which level should be dissected reasonably. METHODS: 57 modified neck dissection (MND) cases in the cN0 with @entity5 were performed. Each lymph node in the 57 (63 sides) MND samples was studied pathologically in order to define the level of the lymph node @entity3 . RESULTS: 1,877 lymph nodes were obtained in these MND samples; an average of 29.8 lymph nodes was obtained in one side. Among them 43 lymph nodes were @entity3 nodes and 41 lymph nodes were located in the II, III level, 95.4% of @entity3 cases. 15 cases (17 sides) in the 57 @entity1 were @entity3 (26.3%) and 14 cases of them were in the level of II and III (93.3%). Ipsilateral cervical recurrence occurred in the 3 of 57 cases in the II, III and IV level respectively. The recurrent rate was 5.3%, and 5-year survival rate was 80.7%. CONCLUSION: II and III levels should be dissected in the @entity5 with cN0 and IV level should be included when III level was involved. I and V levels should not be included when the evidence of @entity3 is not enough.
