Altered lymphatic drainage after breast-conserving surgery and axillary node dissection: local recurrence with contralateral intramammary nodal metastases.

A review of the literature shows that lymphoscintigraphy and sentinel node biopsy are feasible in patients with previous breast and axillary surgery and could be especially warranted because in these patients, lymphatic drainage might not include the axillary basin. We report a case of a woman with recurrent breast cancer after breast-conserving surgery. The patient was found to have metastases in the contralateral intramammary lymph nodes. Demonstrating that such patterns do occur after previous treatment for breast cancer carries implications for the staging and management of these patients.