Sonographic appearance of normal intramammary lymph nodes.

Abstract

Sonographic breast examinations were performed on 1030 patients with palpable or mammographically detected masses. In five cases, the lesions were normal intramammary lymph nodes. The ultrasonographic characteristics of this entity were confirmed by a sonographic/pathologic correlation study carried out on a cadaver axilla. Normal lymph nodes appeared as well-defined echo-poor masses with echogenic centers. In the absence of other suspicious lesions or proven malignant tumors, these nodes should be considered benign and not biopsied, but followed by repeat examinations.