Radiotracer Visualization Within a Saline Breast Implant Due to Inadvertent Needle Penetration During Lymphoscintigraphy

Abstract

A 36-year-old woman with biopsy-proven infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the left breast is referred for lymphoscintigraphy prior to left mastectomy with reconstruction and sentinel lymph node biopsy. The patient had a history of bilateral subpectoral saline breast augmentation performed 8 years prior using a periareolar surgical approach. Injection of Tc-99m filtered sulfur colloid was performed peritumorally under real-time ultrasound guidance. Immediate static images demonstrate good tracer deployment with 2 left axillary lymph nodes identified. However, an additional circular area of increased tracer activity was observed underlying the injection sites that likely represents inadvertent tracer injection into the saline breast implant.