Ultrasound guided tattooing of axillary lymph nodes in breast cancer patients prior to neoadjuvant therapy, and identification of tattooed nodes at the time of surgery.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer patients with lymph node (LN) metastases at diagnosis often undergo neoadjuvant therapy (NAT). Identification of a LN which regressed after NAT remains a challenge. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate marking of involved nodes by tattooing with carbon suspension, and identifying these nodes during surgery. METHODS: A small amount (0.2-0.5 ml) of carbon suspension was injected into one or two axillary LNs under ultrasound guidance at the time of LN biopsy or before or shortly after starting NAT for LN positive breast cancer. During surgery an attempt was made to identify and remove the tattooed LN as a separate specimen. All patients underwent sentinel LN mapping and biopsy and/or axillary LN dissection as mandated by their clinical status. RESULTS: Sixty three patients underwent tattooing of axillary LNs with no complications or adverse events. At surgery a tattooed node was identified in 60 patients (95%; 95% CI 87, 98). Of 56 patients who underwent sentinel mapping with Tc99, in 51 (91%; 95% CI 81, 96) at least one radioactive LN was identified. Of 50 patients in whom both radioactivity and tattoo were identified in axillary LNs, in 40 (80%; 95% CI 67, 89) LNs were radioactive and tattooed, however in 10 patients (20%; 95% CI 11, 33), the tattooed LN was not radioactive. CONCLUSIONS: Tattooing of axillary LNs is safe and easily performed. Tattooing was helpful in identifying the marked LN in the majority of cases. This technique helps to ensure that metastatic LNs are identified and removed at surgery after NAT.

Intraoperative radiation therapy for breast cancer-Immediate and 30-month oncological outcomes.

There is growing evidence that intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) may be a viable option in selected patients with early breast cancer. This study reports our 4-year experience with IORT. The perioperative outcome and imaging data of all patients who underwent IORT for early breast cancer at a tertiary medical center in 2014-2018 were retrospectively retrieved. The cohort included 158 patients aged 52-84 years (mean 68) with stage I (n = 137) or II (n = 21) breast cancer. Mean applicator size was 4.13 cm; IORT added a mean of 29 minutes to the operative time. Minor wound infections (n = 18, 11.4%) requiring antibiotics and drainage were the only postoperative complication. In 25 patients (15%), postoperative mammography demonstrated a seroma (n = 22) or fat necrosis (n = 3). The risk of wound infection or a new postoperative imaging finding was unrelated to patient age, operative time, tumor size, or comorbid diabetes or obesity. After a mean of 30 months' follow-up, none of the patients who met the institutional criteria for IORT had local recurrence, regardless of age, histology, tumor grade, KI67 proliferation index, pathologic stage, Recurrence Score, or additional whole-breast irradiation or adjuvant treatment. Patients for whom a Recurrence Score was determined (n = 55, 35%) had a significantly higher tumor grade, pathologic stage, and whole-breast irradiation/adjuvant chemotherapy rate than the remaining patients. IORT may be a safe alternative to traditional external beam radiation in well-selected patients with early breast cancer, with few minor complications and good 30-month outcome.

Technical aspects of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in 25 morbidly obese patients.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) has recently come to be performed as a sole bariatric operation. The postoperative morbidity and mortality are cause for concern, and possibly are related to non-standardized surgical technique. METHODS: The following is the surgical LSG technique used in 25 morbidly obese patients. Five trocars are used. Division of the vascular supply of the greater gastric curvature is begun at 6-7 cm proximal to the pylorus, proceeding to the angle of His. A 50-Fr calibrating bougie is positioned against the lesser curvature. The LSG is created using a linear stapler-cutter device with one 4.1-mm green load for the antrum, followed by five to seven sequential 3.5-mm blue loads for the remaining gastric corpus and fundus. The staple-line is inverted by placing a sero-serosal continuous absorbable suture over the bougie from the angle of His. The resected stomach is removed through the 12-mm trocar, and a Jackson-Pratt drain is left along the suture-line. RESULTS: The mean operative time was 120 minutes, and length of hospital stay was 4 +/- 2 days. There were no conversions to open procedures. There were no postoperative complications (no hemorrhage from the staple-line, no anastomotic leakage, no stricture) and no mortality. In 1 patient, cholecystectomy was also done, and in 4, a gastric band was removed. During a median follow-up of 4 months, BMI decreased from 43 +/- 5 kg/m2 to 34 +/- 6 kg/m2, and the % excess BMI loss was 49 +/- 25%. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed surgical technique appears to be a safe and effective procedure for morbid obesity.

Extranodal primary B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the breast mimicking acute mastitis.

We report a case of primary, high-grade non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma in the breast of a young woman. The clinical and sonographic presentation was not of a mass but of an infiltrating anechoic process mimicking mastitis. Primary breast lymphoma is a rare entity, especially in young females. Early detection and treatment are crucial because the results of salvage treatment are generally poor. In previous imaging reports of breast lymphoma, it has always been considered as a mass, though the presence of markedly hypoechoic regions that look like fluid collections is a well known sonographic characteristic of lymphoma.