Multidetector-row computed tomography for the preoperative evaluation of axillary nodal status in patients with...

We evaluated the effectiveness of multidetector-row computed tomography (MD-CT) for detecting axillary lymph nodal status (ALNS) in patients with breast cancer.

We reviewed 42 patients with breast cancer. A metastatic lymph node on MD-CT was defined as oval or round, with more than 5 mm on the short axis. We evaluated ALNS preoperatively by both palpation and MD-CT findings and performed sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and complete axillary lymph node dissection (ALND).

For establishing the ALNS, MD-CT showed a sensitivity of 76.9%, a specificity of 96.6%, and an accuracy of 90.5%. On the basis of the MD-CT findings, misdiagnosis was made in 4 of the 42 patients, only one of which was false positive. On the other hand, one patient with a histologically negative sentinel lymph node (SLN) result had metastasis only in a non-SLN. Preoperative MD-CT showed a positive node in this patient.

Multidetector-row computed tomography assists in identifying women who require ALND without SLNB, with sufficient positive predictive value. False-negative detection by SLNB could be avoided with careful interpretation of the axillary lymph nodes shown by MD-CT.