The value of spectral CT imaging in evaluation of axillary lymphatic metastasis of breast carcinoma / 实用放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the value of spectral CT imaging in diagnosis of axillary lymphatic metastasis of breast carcinoma. Methods 27 cases of breast carcinoma who met the criteria underwent dual-phase enhanced spectra CT scan.The axillary lymph nodes were matched one-to-one between CT images and postoperative pathology.The four parameters,including NIC-A,NIC-V, λHU-A,and λHU-V were analyzed among primary tumors,metastasis and non-metastasis lymph nodes.The area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC)curves of the four parameters were used to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy in axillary lymphatic metastasis.Results The four parameters showed significant differences among the primary tumors,metastasis lymph nodes and non-metastasis lymph nodes. The four parameters were also significantly different between the primary tumors and non-metastasis lymph nodes,between metastasis lymph nodes and non-metastasis lymph nodes.Only NIC-V was significantly different between the primary tumors and metastasis lymph nodes.When NIC-A value of 0.148 was used as the threshold for diagnosing lymphatic metastasis,the sensitivity,specificity and the area under the curve were 80.00%,84.62% and 0.888,respectively.Conclusion The parameters of spectral CT imaging can significantly improve the diagnostic accuracy of axillary lymphatic metastasis of breast carcinoma,which can be used as a reference for clinical diagnosis.