Objective To investigate the clinical value of axillary ultrasound (AUS)in the identification of axillary nodal metastasis (ALNM).Methods Two hundred and eighty-two consecutive patients with stage Tis-T2 breast cancer were prospectively enrolled between December 2013 and September 2015.All the patients underwent AUS performed by two specified senior ultrasound doctors.Sonographic features of their axillary lymph nodes (longitudinal and transverse diameters,cortical and hilar thickness,blood flow form)were collected.These patients were divided into metastatic, suspicious and non-metastatic groups based on the ultrasound features by ultrasound doctors.The diagnostic accuracy of AUS was compared with results of pathology.Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the relationship between sonographic features and ALNM.The area under the ROC curve was used to assess the accuracy of the multivariate Logistic regression model.Results The sensitivity,specificity,positive and negative predictive value and accuracy of AUS were respectively 85.6%,87.1%,86.4%,86.3%,and 86.3% in the metastatic and non-metastatic groups.The Kappa value was 0.727(P <0.001).The ALNM burden in the non-metastatic group was significantly lower than in the metastatic group (1.2 vs 6.9,P <0.001).The false-negative results were found only in 16 cases,fourteen of whom had only 1,and two had 2 and 3 ALNM,respectively.Univariate Logistic regression analysis showed that maximum cortical thickness was the most significant predictive factor of ALNM(the area under the ROC curve was 0.872).Multivariate Logistic regression analysis suggested that cortical thickness and the ratio of hilar thickness to cortical thickness were predictive factors of ALNM(P <0.05).The area under the ROC curve of the multivariate Logistic regression model was 0.879 and its sensitivity and specificity were 77.0% and 85.1%,respectively.Conclusion AUS is a valuable tool for detecting ALNM.Patients with false-negative results of AUS have a lower axillary metastatic burden.Maximum cortical thickness is the most significant predictive factor of ALNM.AUS may be a potential alternative method for sentinel lymph node biopsy as axillary lymph node staging in early-stage breast cancer patients.

Mercury is one of the common heavy-metal toxins,which can cause damage throughout the body in a variety of ways. Cases of renal toxicity of mercury poisoning are increasing clinically. However,little is known about nephrotoxicity mechanisms,and treatment remains unsatisfactory. The mechanism of mercury toxic nephropathy is reviewed in this paper,including the direct toxic effect on the kidney,the injury to the biomembrane system,generation of Hg-metallothionein,imbalance of intra?cellular calciumion,oxidative damage,induced apoptosis,and immune injury. Besides,the mechanism and limitation of common therapies,potential developments of the field are discussed. This review will facilitate further investigations therapies about both the mechanism and treatment of mercury toxic nephropathy.

Objective To assess the clinical application value of axillary lymph node staging of breast cancer by B ultrasound.Methods From February to December 2014, 200 female breast disease patients in Department of Breast Surgery Affiliated Hospital of Academy of Military Medical Sciences, were enrolled, with median age 50 years old, including 153 cases of breast cancer, 44 cases of fibroadenoma, 2 cases of mastitis and a case of huge fibroma.The state of axillary lymph node was assessed by doctor with more than twenty years experience in B ultrasound diagnosis.According to the characteristics of the ultrasound image of lymph node and experience of the B ultrasound doctor, the patients were divided into axillary lymph node metastasis group, suspicious group and no metastasis group.The axillary lymph nodes were staged by sentinel lymph node biopsy or axillary lymph node dissection.Based on pathological diagnosis and results of the ultrasound, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, false negative rate, and metastasis burden of axillary lymph nodes in false negative patients were analyzed.The relationship between the B ultrasound characteristics and axillary lymph node metastasis was also studied by univariate analysis.Results The metastasis rate of above-mentioned 3 groups by B ultrasound was 84.51%, 45.16% and 7.14%, respectively.The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of screening for axillary lymph node metastasis by B ultrasound were 89.6%, 89.1%, 84.5% and 92.7%, respectively in metastasis group and no metastasis group. According to consistency analysis between pathological diagnosis and B ultrasound, the Kappa value was 0.779.The false negative rate was only 7.1%(7/98 cases) in no metastasis group judged by B ultrasound, and the patients′axillary lymph node metastasis burden was very low, with only one lymph node positive.The univariate analysis showed that patients with longitudinal diameter of lymph nodes≥1 cm had a higher risk for metastasis than <1 cm (44.2%/14.3%,P<0.001);lymph node aspect ratio≤1.5, the lymph node metastasis rate was significant higher than>1.5(P<0.001); cortical thickness≥3 mm and lymph node appearing blood flow signal of the central or mixed type were also high metastasis risk factor, the lymph node metastasis rate was 67.5%, 75%and 79%, respectively, P<0.001).Conclusion B Ultrasound is a valuable method for detecting axillary lymph node metastasis in breast cancer.It has lower false negative rate, and the false negative patients just have smaller axillary lymph node metastasis burden.The longitudinal diameter of lymph nodes more than 1 cm, lymph node aspect ratio≤1.5, lymph node of cortical thickness≥3 mm, and blood flow signal of the central or mixed type have higher relationship with axillary lymph node metastasis.B Ultrasound may be a potential alterative method for sentinel axillary lymph node biopsy for axillary lymph node staging in early breast cancer.