<p>Introduction Conventionally, at least ten axillary lymph nodes are dissected and examined for metastases<br>in every breast carcinoma patient to find out the metastatic status. Recently however, with<br>the use of intraoperative imprint cytologic examination of a single sentinel lymph node,<br>presence or absence of metastases in axillary lymph nodes can be detected within five<br>minutes.<br>...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................<br>Objectives The objective of this study was to determine sensitivity and specificity of imprint cytology<br>in detecting metastases in axillary lymph nodes in breast carcinoma patients taking<br>histopathological examination as the gold-standard. This is the first study of such kind<br>done in Nepal so far. If it is done in other countries, why it is needed for Nepal?<br>...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................<br>Methods 34 female patients with breast cancer who had undergone lumpectomy/mastectomy with<br>axillary lymphadenectomy were included in the study. Imprint smears of the axillary lymph<br>nodes of each case were prepared. The smears were interpreted as positive or negative on<br>the basis of whether metastases were present or absent respectively. Sensitivity and<br>specificity of imprint cytology were calculated taking histopathologic diagnosis as the<br>standard.<br>...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................<br>Results Of the 34 cases, 30 were found to have positive lymph node status in final histopathologic<br>examination. Twenty six among the thirty cases were correctly identified by imprint cytology,<br>resulting in its sensitivity rate of 86.66 percent. There were no false positive cases leading<br>to the specificity rate of 100 percent.<br>...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................<br>Conclusion Imprint cytology has been found to be highly sensitive and specific method for detecting<br>metastases in axillary lymph nodes of breast carcinoma patients.</p>
<p> </p
