Utilizing the Postvascular Phase of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound to Predict Breast Cancer Lymph Node Metastasis

Background and Objectives: To evaluate the value of the postvascular phase of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in differentiating between benign and metastatic lymph nodes (LNs) in patients with breast cancer (BC). Materials and Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed 96 suspicious LNs in the lymphatic drainage area of the breast from 90 patients with BC. All LNs were assessed by conventional ultrasound (US) and CEUS following intravenous Sonazoid injection. All LNs underwent puncture biopsy, and pathological results were obtained. The correlations between US and CEUS indicators of LNs and LN metastasis (LNM) were analyzed. Results: Of the 96 LNs, 66 were metastatic. Overall, 80.00% (24/30) of the benign LNs exhibited relative hyper-enhancement in the postvascular phase, whereas 96.97% (64/66) of the metastatic LNs exhibited relative hypo-enhancement (p < 0.001). This CEUS finding was highly predictive of metastasis, with a sensitivity of 96.97%, specificity of 80.00%, positive predictive value of 91.43%, negative predictive value of 92.31%, and accuracy of 91.67%. The mean postvascular phase intensity (MPI) was significantly lower for malignant (median MPI, 12 dB) than for benign (median MPI, 75 dB) LNs. The postvascular phase was more sensitive, specific, and accurate than conventional US or the vascular phase of CEUS for the diagnosis of LNM, with an area under the curve of 0.95 (95% confidence interval: 0.89-0.99). Conclusions: Qualitative and quantitative indicators of the postvascular phase of CEUS provide a reliable diagnostic approach to differentiate benign and metastatic LNs in patients with BC.