Efficiency of ultrasound and ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytology in preoperative assessment of axillary lymph node metastases in breast cancer.

PURPOSE: We performed this study to detect preoperative axillary metastases with ultrasound (US)-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB), to eliminate the need for time-consuming and costly sentinel lymph node (SLN) scintigraphy and biopsy steps in the treatment of breast cancer patients, and in that of with suspicious US findings, and to evaluate the accuracy of preoperative US-guided FNAB for patients with suspicious lymph node metastases on US. METHODS: Patients with a suspicious breast lump or histopathologically proven breast cancer underwent breast-axillary US. Increase in lymph node size, cortical thickening, non-hilar cortical flow, and hilar changes were evaluated with gray scale-color Doppler US. FNAB was performed if US results were suspicious for malignancy. RESULTS: Thirty-eight axillary lymph nodes (ALN) underwent FNAB. ALN dissection, SLN scintigraphy, and biopsy steps were bypassed in 23 axillas with positive ALN FNAB (60.5%). The sensitivity of ALN FNAB was 88.46%; specificity and positive predictive value were 100%; and negative predictive value was 66.6% (inadequate cytology included; 76.7%, 100%, 100%, 53.3%, respectively). Asymmetrical cortical thickening, non-hilar cortical flow, and increase in hypoechogenity were only detected in metastatic nodes. Cortical thickening, and lymph node and breast mass size was higher in the metastatic group. CONCLUSION: By performing FNAB on suspicious lymph nodes, the routine, high-cost SLN scintigraphy and intraoperative gamma probe steps may be skipped, and axilla dissection can be performed directly. This leads to the elimination of the need for SLN investigation in more than half of the patients. The assessment of ALN metastases with preoperative US-guided FNAB is a cost-effective method with high specificity, that eliminates the need for costly and time-consuming SLN scintigraphy and biopsy steps, and helps in preoperative staging.

Contrast-enhanced MR angiography of benign regenerative nodules following TIPS shunt procedure in Budd-Chiari syndrome.

In this report we describe the magnetic resonance (MR) angiographic features of benign hepatic nodules that developed in a patient with Budd-Chiari syndrome, and present the distinguishing features of benign regenerative nodules from hepatocellular cancer. In a 27-year-old woman with chronic Budd-Chiari syndrome, previously non-existing benign nodules developed in the liver parenchyma during the 10-month period following transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic (TIPS) shunt placement. The liver had been examined with gray-scale and Doppler sonography in addition to the MR imaging and MR angiography. On MR angiography, more hepatic nodules became visible in the portal venous phase compared to that of the arterial phase. Delayed washout of contrast medium in nodules was considered to be due to stasis in hepatic sinusoids. Hypervascularization, appearance after portosystemic shunt creation, multiplicity, small size ( <=2 cm in diameter in our patient), presence of peripheral rim, and high signal intensity on T1-weighted images are important imaging features of benign hepatic nodules that develop in patients with Budd-Chiari syndrome.