Analysis of technical and clinical variables affecting sentinel node localization in patients with breast cancer after a single intradermal injection of 99mTc nanocolloidal albumin

AimTo investigate the technical, clinical and pathological findings that can, potentially, affect pre-operative lymphoscintigraphy in visualizing sentinel lymph node (SLN) and intra-operative probe detection of SLN in patients with breast cancer. MethodsOne hundred and forty-two consecutive female patients with, clinically, a solitary, small breast cancer and clinically N0 axilla were enrolled. Preoperative lymphoscintigraphy was performed by a single intradermal injection of 99mTc nacolloidal albumin (Nanocoll) the day before surgery. For radioguided surgery two gamma probes with diameters of 11 mm and 15 mm, and set up with a count rate ranging from 1 to 4 s were used. The following variables were evaluated: patient's age, radiotracer dose, volume of injectate, primary tumour location, primary tumour size, and presence and extension of axillary nodal metastases. ResultsLymphoscintigraphy showed high sensitivity in visualizing the SLN (98% success rate) and it resulted in a rapid technique since SLN was visualized within 30 min from injection in 85.21% of cases for the whole series. The probe detection rate was also very high (97.8% success rate): the mean per cent uptake in the SLN was 0.98. Statistical analysis showed that no parameter was found to have significantly influenced either SLN visualization at lymphoscintigraphy or SLN probe detection at surgery. ConclusionIn our experience, lymphoscintigraphy performed by a single intradermal injection of Nanocoll was an effective and rapid technique for visualizing axilla SLNs in breast cancer patients. Moreover, this technique appeared to be independent of any technical, clinical and pathological findings.