Observational studyThe British journal of radiology2022
Role of shear wave elastography as an adjunct to axillary ultrasonography in predicting nodal metastasis in breast cancer patients with suspicious nodes.
Observational study in The British journal of radiology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Diagnostic value of multiple ultrasound diagnostic techniques for axillary lymph node metastases in breast cancer: A systematic analysis and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Pooled it
- Dual-mode 3D shear wave elastography with qualitative and quantitative assessment improves diagnosis of inguinal lymph node metastasis.Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2026Article
- A novel qualitative pattern of shear wave elastography for differentiating suspicious metastatic axillary lymph nodes on B-mode ultrasound: a multi-center retrospective study.Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2026Article
- Evaluation of Ex Vivo Shear Wave Elastography of Axillary Sentinel Lymph Nodes in Patients with Early Breast Cancer.Cancers · 2024Article
- The value of quantitative shear wave elastography combined with conventional ultrasound in evaluating and guiding fine needle aspiration biopsy of axillary lymph node for early breast cancer: implication for axillary surgical stage.BMC medical imaging · 2024Article
- Shear-wave elastography as a supplementary tool for axillary staging in patients undergoing breast cancer diagnosis.Insights into imaging · 2024Article
- The Ongoing Necessity of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy for cT1-2N0 Breast Cancer Patients.Breast care (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Nomograms predicting recurrence in patients with triple negative breast cancer based on ultrasound and clinicopathological features.The British journal of radiology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate the role of shear wave elastography (SWE) of suspicious axillary lymph nodes and its combination with B-mode USG in predicting nodal metastasis in breast cancer patients.
methodsProspective observational study was performed from June 2018 to August 2020 on breast cancer patients with suspicious axillary nodes on USG. B-mode features (cortical thickness, effacement of fatty hilum, non-hilar blood flow and round shape) and SWE parameters (Emax, Emin, Emean and ESD) of the node with the thickest cortex were evaluated. Diagnostic performances of USG, SWE and their combination were estimated using pathological status of the node on biopsy as the gold standard.
resultsOf the 54 patients evaluated, optimal elasticity maps were obtained in 49 nodes of 49 patients (mean age, 46.3 ± 12.1 years; 48/49 (98%) females). On biopsy, 38 nodes (77.6%) had metastasis, while 11 (22.4%) had reactive hyperplasia. Emax, Emin, Emean and ESD of both cortex and hilum were significantly higher in metastatic than reactive nodes. Emax (cortex) ≥14.9 kPa had the best diagnostic performance (sensitivity, 73.7%; specificity, 81.8%). Cortical thickness ≥6.7 mm had the best diagnostic performance among B-mode features (sensitivity, 89.5%; specificity, 72.7%). Combining cortical thickness with effacement of fatty hilum and/or non-hilar blood flow yielded sensitivity of 89.5% and specificity of 90.9%. Addition of Emax (cortex) to cortical thickness and combination of ≥2 B-mode features increased their specificities to 90.9 and 100%, respectively.
conclusionsMetastatic axillary nodes are stiffer than reactive nodes on SWE in breast cancer patients. Emax (cortex) has the best diagnostic performance in differentiating between reactive hyperplasia and nodal metastasis. Combination of Emax (cortex) and cortical thickness increases the specificity for diagnosing metastasis, especially in nodes showing only cortical thickening. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: Combination of SWE and B-mode USG is highly specific for differentiating metastasis from reactive hyperplasia in suspicious nodes of breast carcinoma patients, especially in nodes with only cortical thickening.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.