title: The value of axillary ultrasound with fine needle aspiration as a pre-operative staging procedure in breast cancer: Northern Irish experience.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In our unit sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is performed without intra-operative pathological nodal assessment. If node biopsies are positive the patients have to return at a later date for a complete axillary node clearance (ANC).
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a retrospective study to ascertain if the use of pre-operative ultrasound assessment of the axilla with fine needle aspiration (FNA) sampling could identify patients with nodal metastases and therefore identify patients who should proceed primarily to ANC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our study showed that 40 patients out of 119 had nodal metastases, and ultrasound correctly identified 19 of those patients.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Surgery and Radiology, The Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. Phildavey@doctors.net.uk
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Davey
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stokes
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kirk
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Newell
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Majury
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McKillen
mesh_terms: D001365:Axilla; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009660:Northern Ireland; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy; D014463:Ultrasonography