Internal mammary lymphoscintigraphy in the conservative surgical management of breast carcinoma

Radiocolloid internal mammary lymphoscintigrams were carried out in 249 women who had undergone partial mastectomy. Only 39 patients, or 15%, had axillary sampling; of these, 19 were positive. At last follow-up, a minimum of two years from the date of study, the overall recurrence rate was 67% for patients with an abnormal lymphoscintigram and 34% for those with a normal lymphoscintigram. Actuarial survival rates projected to five years indicate a statistically significant difference in the prognostic implications of the normal and abnormal internal mammary lymphoscintigram, with 83 and 59% survival rates, respectively.