In this comprehensive study, mammography screening for women ages 40 to 49 years was efficient for reducing breast cancer mortality.

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Background/Objective SPIO is effective in sentinel node (SN) detection. No nuclear medicine department is needed, and no allergic reactions have occurred. This study aimed to compare retro-areolar and peri-tumoral SPIO injections regarding skin staining, detection rates and number of SNs. Methods Data on staining size, intensity and cosmetic outcome (0–5; 0 = no problem) were collected by telephone interviews with 258 women undergoing breast conservation. SN detection and the number of SNs were prospectively registered in 332 women. Results After retro-areolar and peri-tumoral injections, 67.3% and 37.8% ( p < 0.001) developed skin staining, with remaining staining in 46.2 vs. 9.4% after 36 months ( p < 0.001). Initial mean size was 16.3 vs. 6.8 cm ( p < 0.001) and after 36 months, 6.6 vs. 1.8 cm 2 ( p < 0.001). At 75.1% of 738 interviews, staining was reported paler. After retro-areolar injections, cosmetic outcome scored worse for 2 years. The mean (median) scores were 1.3(0) vs. 0.5(0) points, and 0.2(0) vs. 0.1(0) points, at 12 and 36 months, respectively. Overall detection rates were 98.3% and 97.4% ( p = 0.43) and the number of SNs 1.35 vs. 1.57 ( p = 0.02) after retro-areolar and peri-tumoral injections. Injection, regardless of type, 1–27 days before surgery increased detection rates with SPIO, 98.0% vs. 94.2% ( p = 0.06) ,and SN numbers, 1.56 vs. 1.27 ( p = 0.003). Conclusion SPIO is effective and facilitates planning for surgery. Peri-tumoral injection reduced staining with a similar detection rate. Staining was not considered a cosmetic problem among most women. Injecting SPIO 1–27 days before surgery increased the detection rate by 3.8% and increased the number of SNs by 0.3.

Eleven patients with mild or moderate acute idiopathic peripheral facial palsy, so-called Bell's palsy, were serially examined by gadolinium-DTPA-enhanced MRI on mean days 11, 40, and 97 (third examination, n = 10) after the onset of palsy. Results of the clinical and neurophysiologic assessment of facial nerve function were compared with the gadolinium-enhanced MRI findings. Eight of the 11 patients demonstrated contrast enhancement of the facial nerve at the initial examination, but in 7 of them, the enhancement had disappeared by the time of the serial follow-up gadolinium-enhanced MRI scans. The disappearance of facial nerve enhancement was found to be related to clinical and neurophysiologic improvements in facial nerve function during recovery from Bell's palsy. The three patients whose scans were negative at the initial gadolinium-enhanced MRI examination had the same clinical severity of palsy, but initially they had milder neurophysiologic involvement than those who demonstrated enhancement; these three patients did not exhibit enhancement at serial follow-up scans. These findings indicate that the presence of enhancement at the initial MRI scan is not necessarily indicative of a poor prognosis for recovery.