Sentinel lymph node imaging and research after bone scintigraphy in breast cancer patients.

The aim of the study is to see if Bone Scan (BS) - when performed the day before the operation-interferes with the results of the Sentinel Lymph Node (SLN) technique using radiocolloids (their pre-operative imaging and their peroperative research). Therefore, the data of 393 patients who had one selective lymphadenectomy of the SLN(s) followed by the complete axillary node (AxN) clearance for Breast Cancer and among whom 309 patients had one BS the day before the operation (and just before the injection-s for the SLN) and 84 did not, were analysed and compared. The two series presented the same characteristics with regard to: age, clinical staging of the tumour, kind of injection-s performed (intradermic and paratumoural and/or intraparenchymal and peritumoral), pathological size of the tumour, percentage of cases with no AxN invasion, total number of AxN removed by the surgeons.

How 'hot' is the pathologically positive sentinel lymph node in breast cancer patients?

When many lymph nodes are found by using lymphoscintigraphic techniques performed to detect the sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) in breast cancer, it is usual to find that the 'hottest' SLN is not always the node that is pathologically positive (pN+). Various criteria have been proposed to define which radioactive lymph nodes should be removed. In order to determine the frequency with which the hottest SLN 'fails' to be pN+, and to determine which criteria best define the radioactive lymph node to be removed, we reviewed and analysed our cases in which more than one SLN was detected and where there was also at least one pN+ node.

[Subcutaneous nodules and lung cavitated nodules].

An african 22-year old man consulted because of disseminated subcutaneous nodules which appeared two months ago with an increasing number. He also complained from productive cough, wheezing and dyspnea on exertion. A chest CT-scan revealed multiple cavitated nodular lesions in both lungs.

Electrocardiographic manifestations of heart metastasis from a primary lung cancer.

Though acute myocardial infarction is one of the most frequent causes of ST segment elevation, there are other, less frequent, reasons for such electrocardiographic changes. In the present case, a cardiac metastasis from a squamous cell lung carcinoma was responsible for these changes. The secondary lesion was located in the apex of the left ventricle and induced an ECG alteration mimicking myocardial ischaemia.

[Anatomical-clinical conference: mediastinal mass].

A 56 years-old man developed a pneumonia. An anterior mediastinal mass is fortuitly found on the chest X-ray and the patient is hospitalised for further investigations. Differential diagnosis of mediastinal masses is discussed.