Table 1 Axillary findings
Benign | Malignant | |
|---|---|---|
Skin and subcutaneous tissues | Seborrheic keratosis, sebaceous cyst, epidermoid inclusion cyst | Skin metastases, melanoma |
Accessory breast tissue | Fibroadenoma, pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia (PASH), fibrocystic change | Breast cancer |
Lymph node enlargement | Hyperplasia/reactive node, HIV/immunocompromised state, granulomatous disease-sarcoidosis, lymphoma/leukaemia, Castleman’s disease | Primary breast malignancy, metastatic disease (breast, lung, ovarian, gastric, melanoma) |
Lymph node calcifications/punctuate densities | Granulomatous disease, gold therapy (rheumatoid arthritis treatment) | Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), metastatic disease [thyroid (papillary), ovarian] |
Post-operative findings | Skin thickening, lymphoedema, post-operative fluid collections/lymphocele, fat necrosis, abscess, haematoma | Primary or metastatic recurrence |
Neoplasms | Granular cell tumour, schwannoma | Primary breast cancer |