scholarly journals Relationship between Upper Extremity Lymphatic Drainage and Sentinel Lymph Nodes in Patients with Breast Cancer

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaokai Ma ◽  
Shishuai Wen ◽  
Baofeng Liu ◽  
Dumin Li ◽  
Xiaolong Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Lymph Node ◽  
Lymph Nodes ◽  
Upper Extremity ◽  
Axillary Lymph Node ◽  
Lymphatic Drainage ◽  
Sentinel Lymph Nodes ◽  
Blue Dye ◽  
Axillary Lymph ◽  
Axillary Reverse Mapping

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between upper extremity lymphatics and sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) in breast cancer patients.Methods. Forty-four patients who underwent axillary reverse mapping (ARM) during axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) with SNL biopsy (SLNB) between February 2017 and October 2017 were investigated. ARM was performed using indocyanine green (ICG) to locate the upper extremity lymphatics; methylene blue dye was injected intradermally for SLN mapping.Results. ARM nodes were found in the ALND fields of all examined patients. The rate of identification of upper extremity lymphatics within the SLNB field was 65.9% (29 of 44). The ARM nodes were involved in metastases arising from primary breast tumors in 7 of the patients (15.9%), while no metastases were detected in pathologic axillary lymph node-negative patients. Lymphatics from the upper extremity drained into the SLNs in 5 of the 44 patients (11.4%); their ARM-detected nodes were found to be in close proximity to the SLNs.Conclusions. The ARM nodes and SLNs are closely related and share lymphatic drainage routes. The ARM procedure using fluorescence imaging is both feasible and, in patients who are SLN negative, oncologically safe. ARM using ICG is therefore effective for identifying and preserving upper extremity lymphatics, and SLNB combined with ARM appears to be a promising surgical refinement for preventing upper extremity lymphoedema.Clinical Trial Registration. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrial.gov:NCT02651142.

scholarly journals Preventing Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema: Feasibility of Axillary Reverse Mapping Technique

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (23) ◽  
pp. 5707
Author(s):  
Alexandra Caziuc ◽  
Diana Schlanger ◽  
Giorgiana Amarinei ◽  
Vlad Fagarasan ◽  
David Andras ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Lymph Node ◽  
Lymph Nodes ◽  
Axillary Lymph Node ◽  
Histological Evaluation ◽  
Lymph Node Status ◽  
Axillary Lymph ◽  
Axillary Reverse Mapping ◽  
Metastatic Involvement ◽  
Reverse Mapping

Introduction. Our study aimed to determine the feasibility of axillary reverse mapping (ARM) technique, the identification rate of ARM nodes and their metastatic involvement, as well as to identify the factors that influence the identification and metastatic involvement. Material and methods. In total, 30 breast cancer patients scheduled for axillary lymph node dissection were enrolled in our study. The lymphatic nodes that drain the arm were identified by injecting 1 mL of blue dye in the ipsilateral upper arm; then, the ARM nodes were resected along with the other lymph nodes and sent for histological evaluation. Results. Identification of ARM node was successful in 18 patients (60%) and 22.22% of the identified ARM lymph nodes had metastatic involvement. Patients with identified ARM nodes had a significant lower BMI and a statistically significant relationship between axillary lymph node status and ARM node metastases was proven. Most of ARM lymph nodes (96.3%) were found above the intercostobrachial nerve, under the axillary vein and lateral to the thoracodorsal bundle. Conclusions. The ARM procedure is easy to reproduce but might not be appropriate for patients with a high BMI. The rate of metastatic involvement of ARM nodes is significant and no factor can predict it, showing that the preservation of these nodes cannot be considered.

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