To assess the feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of preoperative ultrasound and ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytology of axillary lymph nodes in patients of breast carcinoma

Background: Metastasis of the lymph node is one of the most significant prognostic factors for breast cancer (BC). Aim: To predict positivity of the lymph node in BC patients with help of USG and USG-guided FNAC and thus to prevent unnecessary morbidity. Methods: 50 patients of incisional/true cut biopsy-proven BC patients were included. All were subjected to mammography, USG and FNAC of the lump breast. USG-guided FNAC of the axillary lymph node was done in 25 of these patients. These findings were assessed by histological examination following dissection of the axillary lymph node. Results: Axillary lymph node (ALN) metastasis was present in 42 patients on histopathology; 21 patients suspicious of malignancy on preoperative USG were confirmed by HPE. Out of 88 confirmed lymph nodes evaluated on ultrasonography, 4 were benign, 18 were indeterminate and 66 were suspicious. The most promising features were tumour length/depth ratio of