A STUDY OF THE DIAGNOSTIC VALUE OF COLOR DOPPLER AND GRAY SCALE US IN IDENTIFYING AXILLARY LYMPH NODES METASTASES IN PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER

Due to the high incidence of breast cancer, the use of easy, safe, noninvasive and
readily available diagnostic procedures that can accurately determine the initial stages of the disease and
its spread is very important. Ultrasonography as a method may be able to realize these goals and to help
patients and physicians. The aim of this study was to evaluate diagnostic value of the gray scale and
color doppler sonography in determining malignant nature of the lymph nodes in the axillary region.
Materials & Methods: This analytical study included 99 breast cancer patients who had not undergone
mastectomy and lymphadenectomy and referred to pathology department of Imam Reza Hospital for
FNA. Before biopsy, gray scale and color doppler ultrasound was done from axillary lymph nodes, and
the measurements were recorded. The data were analyzed using statistical tests and diagnostic value
analysis. The software of SPSS 21 was used for statistical analysis.
Results: Sensitivity of indices of gray scale and color doppler sonography includingthe size of lymph
nodes, cortical thickness and symmetry, echogenicity, RI, vascular patterns of lymph node and vessel
number of lymph node were 0.57, 0.62, 0.87, 1, 0.66, 0.58 respectively.
Conclusion: In this study, diagnostic value and accordance of echogenicity was higher than the other
criteria of sonography. Then, this criterion can be a useful for prediction of the status of the axillary
lymph node