Breast cancer is the most common malignancies in women. Axillary lymph node status is critical for the treatment and prognosis of breast cancer patients. Conventional ultrasound
as one of the important methods for the evaluation of axillary lymph node metastasis of breast cancer
has the advantages of high efficiency
simplicity and economy
but only from the morphology and blood flow of lymph nodes. It has high specificity and low sensitivity. Intravenous contrast-enhanced ultrasound can observe microcirculation perfusion in lymph nodes and was gradually used in preoperative examination. Percutaneous contrast-enhanced ultrasound has important clinical value in localization of sentinec lymph nodes. In this paper
the application of conventional ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasound in assessment of axillary lymph node status in breast cancer is reviewed