Intraoperatory sentinel node exam at the Hospital Nossa Senhora das Graças Breast Unit in Curitiba

Abstract

Sentinel node (SN) biopsy is the standard of care for patients with clinically negative axilla. However, intraoperatory pathological exam remains as a controversial issue. So, the aim of this study was to evaluate its efficacy in 342 breast cancer patients operated at the Hospital Nossa Senhora das Graças Breast Unit in Curitiba (PR), in the period between 2000‑2012. In the intraoperatory evaluation, all SNs were cutted in the major axis, in three levels, combining frozen sections with imprints, using toluidin blue. The majority of patients were T1c (n=151), and 60 (17.5%) had positive axila in the definitive pathology evaluation. Accuracy was 92%, predictive negative value was 91%, and false‑negative rate was 8%. We did not find any significant risk factor for false negative SN in this series.