Introduction Recent prospective studies support the feasibility of performing sentinel lymph node biopsy following neoadjuvant chemotherapy in initially fine-needle aspiration cytology or ultrasound-guided biopsy-proven node-positive breast cancer. The main aid is to identify preoperative features that help us predict a complete axillary response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in these patients and thus select the candidates for sentinel lymph node biopsy post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy to avoid unnecessary axillary lymphadenectomy. Materials and methods A retrospective observational study with a total of 150 patients, biopsy-proven node-positive breast cancer who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by breast surgery and axillary lymphadenectomy were included and retrospectively analysed. A predictive model was generated by a multivariate logistic regression analysis for pathological complete response-dependent variable. Results The response of the primary lesion to neoadjuvant chemotherapy according to post-treatment magnetic resonance imaging, Her2/neu overexpression and a low estrogen receptor expression are associated with a higher rate of nodal pathologically complete response. The multivariant model generated a receiver operating characteristic curve with an area under the curve of 0.79 and a confidence interval of 0.72–0.87 at a 95% level of significance. Conclusions This model could be a helpful tool for the surgeon to help in predicting which cases have a higher likelihood of achieving a pathologically complete response and therefore selecting those who may benefit from a post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy sentinel lymph node biopsy and avoid unnecessary axillary lymphadenectomy.

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intraoperative gland assessment (soft vs. hard), duct size (< 3mm was considered small) and postoperative outcomes. The pancreatic remnant was classified as "high-risk" if at least one risk factor (soft gland, small duct) was present. Results: 141 patients underwent PD at a single institution. PG was done in 49 (34.8%) and PJ in 71 (70.6%) patients. All PGs were done for high-risk remnant while PJ was performed in both groups. Clinically relevant POPF developed in 15 patients (10.8%); no significant difference between PG and PJ was observed (8.3% vs. 11.1%, respectively). The leaks after PJ occurred more often in patients with high risk remnants: 32% vs. 4.5%, p=0.005. In contrast, PG performed in a similar group of patients, was associated with significantly lower POPF rate: 8.3% vs. 32%, p=0.016). Gland texture, risk group affiliation, BMI, but not duct size or blood loss, were strong predictors of POPF on univariate analysis. Gland texture appeared to be the strongest predictor on multivariate analysis. Conclusion: PG offers substantial reduction in the rate and severity of POPF in patients with "high-risk" gland compared to PJ.