Localisation of occult breast lesion: a comparative analysis of hookwire and radioguided procedures.

OBJECTIVES: For occult breast lesions, to retrospectively compare the performance of radioguided and hookwire methods in terms of ease of localisation and surgical procedures, and the ability to obtain a specimen with a clear margin. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Regional hospital, Hong Kong. PATIENTS: All patients who underwent occult breast lesion localisation by either ultrasonography- or stereotactic-guided radioguided occult lesion localisation or hookwire localisation from August 2003 to December 2007 were included. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Demographic data, localisation and operation procedure time, size of specimens and margin clearance. RESULTS: In all, 165 patients (mean age, 52 years) having these procedures were assessed. In 98 instances, the procedure (hookwire=53, radioguided=45) was for diagnostic purposes and in 67 (hookwire=23, radioguided=44) for therapy. Both techniques attained a very high success rate (>95%). For radioguided occult lesion localisation, there was a significantly shorter mean localisation time than for hookwire localisation (18 min versus 31 min; P<0.001), while the mean operating time was similar. Radioguided occult lesion localisation entailed larger specimens and fewer cases with close or involved margins, or recourse to intra-operative re-excision or a second operation, but these differences were not statistically significant. Within the radioguided occult lesion localisation group, there were 42 patients who had a simultaneous sentinel lymph node biopsy (sentinel node and occult lesion localisation), with a 98% success rate although no lymph node metastasis was revealed. CONCLUSION: Radioguided occult lesion localisation excels in yielding a much shorter localisation time and is as good as hookwire localisation in terms of specimen margin clearance and need for re-excision. It also offers the advantage of enabling simultaneous sentinel lymph node biopsy for invasive cancers. Therefore it is a recommended procedure that should be used more widely.

Unique hepatic imaging features in a patient with nodular regenerative hyperplasia of the liver associating with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Nodular regenerative hyperplasia (NRH) of the liver, characterized by regenerative nodules distributed throughout the liver in the absence of fibrosis, is a rare but important complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The main consequence of NRH is non-cirrhotic portal hypertension. We describe a female patient who had immune thrombocytopenia in association with elevated liver enzymes and evidence of portal hypertension as initial manifestations of SLE. Computed tomographic scan and magnetic resonance imaging of the liver in this patient showed enhancing periportal tubular structures distributed throughout the liver. The diagnosis of NRH was eventually disclosed by transcutaneous needle liver biopsy. The pattern of radiological abnormality in this patient has not been described previously in NRH. In addition, we believe this is a first reported case of SLE presenting with immune thrombocytopenia in association with NRH.