title: Colour Doppler flow in normal axillary lymph nodes.
abstract: 81 women with carcinoma of the breast who underwent axillary nodal dissection were studied pre-operatively with colour Doppler ultrasound. The presence of colour Doppler flow was demonstrated in 83.6% of normal lymph nodes compared with 87.5% of metastatic lymph nodes. Using the presence of colour Doppler signal as the sole diagnostic criterion for the diagnosis of metastasis gave a sensitivity of 92.5%, specificity of 9.52%, accuracy of 50%, positive predictive value of 49.3% and negative predictive value of 57.1%. Using grey scale sonographic criteria, where a metastatic node was defined as a node with loss of central fatty hilum and/or eccentric cortical hypertrophy, a sensitivity of 79.5%, specificity of 94.0%, accuracy of 87.6%, positive predictive value of 91.2% and negative predictive value of 85.5% were obtained. Colour Doppler studies of the axillary nodes in a second group of 106 women who attended for breast cancer screening and had no significant breast or axillary pathology also showed colour Doppler signal in 86.7% of nodes. It is concluded that colour Doppler flow signals can be demonstrated in both normal and metastatic axillary lymph nodes, and is highly non-specific when used as the sole diagnostic criterion in the diagnosis of malignancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Radiology & Organ Imaging, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: W T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Metreweli
mesh_terms: D001365:Axilla; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color