COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE OF TWO-DIMENSIONAL ULTRASONOGRAPHY AND ELASTOGRAPHY FOR SUSPECTED AXILLARY LYMPH NODE METASTASIS OF BREAST CANCER, KEEPING HISTOPATHOLOGY AS GOLD STANDARD
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62019/3pwq6907Keywords:
Breast cancer, Axillary lymph node, Ultrasonography, Elastosonography, HistopathologyAbstract
Background: Evaluating axillary lymph node (ALN) status remains a key step in staging and managing breast cancer. We aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of two-dimensional ultrasonography and elastosonography in identifying suspected ALN metastasis, using histopathology as the gold standard.
Methods: We enrolled 175 patients with clinically suspected ALN involvement. Each patient underwent both ultrasonography and elastosonography, followed by histopathological confirmation. We calculated sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and overall accuracy for each imaging method.
Results: Histopathology confirmed metastatic involvement in 81 patients (46.3%). Ultrasonography identified malignant nodes with 41.9% sensitivity and 60.6% specificity. Elastosonography showed higher sensitivity (58.0%) but lower specificity (45.7%). Diagnostic accuracy remained similar for both modalities—52.0% for ultrasonography and 51.4% for elastosonography.
Conclusion: Both ultrasonography and elastosonography offer moderate diagnostic value in assessing ALN metastasis. Elastosonography increases sensitivity but leads to more false positives. Clinicians should use these tools to support, rather than replace, histopathological evaluation in treatment planning.
