Pre-operative Ultrasound Staging of the Axilla in Breast Cancer - Repeat Audit Cycle

Abstract

Introduction: Axillary ultrasound (AUS) for axillary staging of breast cancer is a standard procedure now to identify metastatic lymph nodes (LN). In 2009 we retrospectively audited AUS for axillary staging and found a sensitivity of 57.7% and specificity of 92.7% in our breast unit. However, only 50% of abnormal nodes were AUS-guided biopsied. In this study we aim to close the audit cycle by assessing whether the prevalence of AUS has increased and more abnormal nodes have been biopsied.