The differentiation of the character of solid lesions in the breast in the compression sonoelastography. Part I: The diagnostic value of the ultrasound B-mode imaging in the differentiation diagnostics of solid, focal lesions in the breast in relation to the pathomorphological verification

The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of the ultrasound B-mode imaging in the differentiation diagnostics of solid lesions in the breast in relation to the pathomorphological verification. From January to July 2010, 375 ultrasound breast examinations were conducted. The study enrolled 80 women aged 17–83, with 99 solid, focal lesions present in breasts, which were qualified for pathomorphological verification on the basis of the ultrasound examination. All patients underwent: the interview, physical examination, ultrasound examination and sonoelastography. The ultrasound features of the lesions, their vascularization patterns in the Doppler examination as well as the adjacent tissues were determined. Next, the focal lesions were categorized according to the BIRADS-US classification. The obtained results were analyzed statistically. In the group of 80 patients, 99 focal, solid lesions in breasts were visualized, including 39 neoplastic, malignant lesions (group I) and 60 lesions of benign nature (group II). The malignant lesions were often characterized by: greater size, irregular shape (34/39), prevalence of the anteroposterior dimension over the lateral-lateral dimension (22/39), acoustic shadowing (20/39), the margins not well-circumscribed (37/39), spiculated margins (16/39) and the presence of calcifications (14/39). The benign lesions were much more often hyper- and isoechogenic (14/60). In group I the lesions more often demonstrated the features of increased vascularization (29/39) and the presence of irregularly shaped vessels (23/29). This vascularization more often originated in the adjacent tissues. In the surroundings of the malignant neoplastic lesions, the presence of edema (16/39) and skin thickening (6/39) occurred more frequently and the abnormal axillary lymph nodes were more often diagnosed. The lesions of group I were assigned to the following BIRADS categories: BIRADS-US 4 (9 lesions) and BIRADS-US 5 (30 lesions). In group II, there was a prevalence of BIRADS-US 3 and 4 categories (58 lesions) and 2 lesions were classified to BIRADS-US 5 category. In the statistical analysis of the models based on BIRADS classification, it was demonstrated that BIRADS 4 showed the highest sum of sensitivity and specificity values of 173.6% in differentiation of the character of focal lesions in the breast (sensitivity 76.92%, specificity 96.67%).