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Published on: January 11, 2011
A Novel Light-Emitting Wire Enhances the Marking and Visualization of Pathologic Mammary Ducts During Selective
Xiao-Peng Ma1, Wei Wang2, Yuan Kong1
1Department of General Surgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230001, People Republic of China.
Background:
Methylene blue injection of lesions often is inaccurate, and ductoscopic wire marking does not facilitate easy identification of lesions during microdochectomy in patients with pathologic nipple discharge. The authors designed a light-emitting wire that can be inserted into pathologic mammary ducts to facilitate intraoperative duct identification and evaluated the efficacy of this device in patients undergoing selective microdochectomy.
Methods:
In this study, 69 patients being evaluated for pathologic discharge were randomized to undergo selective microdochectomy with either methylene blue pathologic duct marking or light-emitting wire pathologic duct marking. The patient clinical characteristics and surgical outcomes were compared and evaluated.
Results:
Of the 69 study patients, 36 underwent selective microdochectomy guided by methylene blue injection, and 33 underwent light-emitting wire marking. No differences existed between the clinical and histologic characteristics or the diagnostic accuracies of the groups. In 11 (30.56%) of the 36 patients who underwent methylene blue marking, the ducts ruptured after the methylene blue was injected, and normal tissue around the duct was stained. Light-emitting wire marking was associated with a shorter surgical time and smaller surgical specimens.
Conclusions:
The use of light-emitting wire marking enabled selective microdochectomy of pathologic ducts under visual guidance. Resection volume was reduced, and blinded extended resection was avoided.
