Axillary ultrasound and fine-needle aspiration in the preoperative evaluation of the breast cancer patient: an algorithm based on tumor size and lymph node appearance.

Objective: The objective of our study was to evaluate the utility of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of the axillary lymph nodes in breast cancer patients depending on the size of the primary tumor and the appearance of the lymph nodes.

Subjects And Methods: Data were collected about tumor size, lymph node appearance, and the results of ultrasound-guided FNA and axillary surgery of 224 patients with breast cancer undergoing 226 ultrasound-guided FNA. Lymph nodes were classified as benign if the cortex was even and measured < 3 mm, indeterminate if the cortex was even but measured ≥ 3 mm or measured < 3 mm but was focally thickened, and suspicious if the cortex was focally thickened and measured ≥ 3 mm or the fatty hilum was absent.

Axillary lymph nodes: US-guided fine-needle aspiration for initial staging of breast cancer--correlation with primary tumor size.

Purpose: To retrospectively assess the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonographic (US)-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of axillary lymph nodes for preoperative staging of breast cancer across a range of primary tumor sizes, by using histologic findings as a reference standard.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval was obtained for this HIPAA-compliant study; informed consent was waived. US-guided FNA results in 74 patients with breast cancer (75 axillae) were compared with final pathologic results.

BI-RADS lexicon for US and mammography: interobserver variability and positive predictive value.

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate interobserver variability between breast radiologists by using terminology of the fourth edition of the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) to categorize lesions on mammograms and sonograms and to retrospectively determine the positive predictive value (PPV) of BI-RADS categories 4a, 4b, and 4c.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval was obtained; informed consent was not required. This study was HIPAA compliant.

Characterization of breast masses with sonography: can biopsy of some solid masses be deferred?

Objective: To determine whether sonography can be used to categorize some solid breast masses as probably benign so that biopsy can be deferred.

Methods: We prospectively characterized 844 sonographically visible solid breast masses referred for biopsy. Mammographic and sonographic features of the masses were recorded, and all masses were categorized by American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System classification before biopsy.