Contrast-enhanced spectral mammography: are kinetic patterns useful for differential diagnoses of enhanced lesions?

PURPOSE: To investigate the diagnostic efficiency of the kinetic curves of enhanced lesions on contrast-en-hanced spectral mammography (CESM) and whether they were similar to those of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: Two hundred and twelve patients with 222 enhanced lesions were included in this prospective study. Single-view craniocaudal of an affected breast was acquired at 3, 5, and 7 min after contrast media injection. The kinetic patterns of each lesion were evaluated and classified as elevated (type I), steady (type II), and depressed (type III). Statistical comparison used the chi-squared test, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and Cohen’s kappa. RESULTS: Of 222 enhanced lesions, 140 were breast cancers, and 82 were benign lesions. The distribution of the kinetic curves for breast cancer was type I, 3.57%, type II, 35.71%, and type III, 60.72%. As for benign lesions, the distribution was type I, 43.90%, type II, 45.12%, and type III, 10.98%. The difference in the enhancement patterns between benign lesions and breast cancers was significant (P < 0.001). The likelihood of breast cancer related to a type I, II, and III curve was 12.20%, 57.47%, and 90.43%, respectively. For the enhancement intensity, the area under curve (AUC) of the ROC curves was 0.702 ± 0.036; for enhancement patterns, the AUC increased to 0.819 ± 0.030. Cohen’s kappa coefficient was 0.752 (P < 0.001) regarding the kinetic curves for CESM and MRI. CONCLUSION: The kinetic patterns on CESM show promise in differentiating between benign lesions and breast cancers, with good agreement, when compared with MRI.