Prognostic value of high-frequency sonography and color Doppler sonography for the preoperative assessment of melanomas.

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to determine the efficacy of high-frequency sonography for the preoperative assessment of melanomas and to determine the prognostic value of tumor vascularity measured by color Doppler sonography.Twenty-seven patients with melanomas were prospectively examined using high-frequency sonography before they underwent surgery. For each tumor, morphologic evaluation (20-MHz probe), including the measurement of maximum tumor thickness, and color Doppler sonography analysis (13-MHz probe), including the measurement of intratumor vascularity, were performed. Diagnosis was confirmed by histologic findings, tumor thickness was measured using the Breslow index, and vascularity was assessed by immunochemical findings.Each of the 27 melanomas was depicted on high-frequency sonography as a homogeneous hypoechoic structure with well-defined margins. Tumor thickness was measured using high-frequency sonography as ranging from 0.3 to 8.0 mm, whereas it was measured using the Breslow index as...