Sentinel node imaging and biopsy in breast cancer patients

Background: Several techniques have been shown to be accurate in identifying axillary sentinel lymph nodes. The accuracy of subareolar blue dye injection is compared with intraparenchymal radioisotope injection. Methods: Forty-two consecutive patients with breast cancer were injected with both intraparenchymal technetium-99m and subareolar isosulfan blue dye. After sentinel lymph node identification, an axillary lymph node dissection was performed. Results: The blue dye and the technetium-99m localized to the same axillary nodes even though the injection sites were different. The sensitivity of blue dye in identifying axillary sentinel nodes was 100%. The sensitivity of radioisotope injection in identifying sentinel nodes was 97.6% Conclusions: Subareolar blue dye injection is an extremely accurate and cost-effective method of sentinel node identification in breast cancer patients.