Thoracoscopic Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Patients With Stage I or Stage II Breast Cancer

Administered pre-surgery; injection of 2 cc of Isosulfan Blue in four equal aliquots of 0.5 cc as routinely done for the axillary sentinel node procedure.

Axillary Lymph Node Dissection

The surgery will be performed under general anesthesia with a single lumen endo-tracheal tube. The patient will be laid in a semi decubitus position on the opposite side with the ipsilateral arm bent over the head and attached to an arm rest.

Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy

Performed only if internal mammary sentinel node cannot be retrieved via same incision of lumpectomy/mastectomy.

Two to three hours prior to surgery, a peritumoral injection of filtered Technetium Sulfur Colloid will be performed in four 0.25 mci/2cc aliquots