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Sonography of palpable breast cancer
Author(s) -
GeorgianSmith Dianne,
Taylor Kenneth J. W.,
Madjar Helmut,
Goldberg Barry,
Merritt Christopher R. B.,
Bokobsa Jacques,
Rubin Eva,
Mendelson Ellen B.,
Fornage Bruno D.,
Rouse Glenn,
Wadden Nancy A. T.,
Dewbury K. C.,
Cosgrove David O.,
Schmidt Robert
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of clinical ultrasound
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.272
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1097-0096
pISSN - 0091-2751
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0096(200006)28:5<211::aid-jcu1>3.0.co;2-w
Subject(s) - medicine , occult , radiology , malignancy , biopsy , mammography , breast cancer , palpation , ductal carcinoma , cancer , pathology , alternative medicine
Purpose Because of the increasing use of sonography to rule out cancer in women with palpable breast abnormalities, this study was performed to determine the rate of sonographically occult malignancy in this clinical setting. Methods Women who were recommended for biopsy based on mammographic and/or clinical findings underwent breast sonography. This study retrospectively analyzed the subset of patients with palpable malignant lesions. Lesions were classified as visible or occult on mammography and sonography. Patients without a tissue diagnosis of tumor were excluded. Results Of 1,346 masses that underwent biopsy or aspiration, 616 lesions were palpable, and of these, 293 were malignant. Sonography detected all 293 palpable malignant lesions (95% confidence interval for sensitivity, 99–100%). Eighteen lesions were mammographically occult. The median lesion size as determined by sonography was 1.8 cm; for the lesions that were mammographically occult, the median size was 1.6 cm. The most common histopathologic diagnosis for both groups of lesions was infiltrating ductal carcinoma. Conclusions All palpable malignant breast lesions were visible by sonography in patients in whom a biopsy was recommended. However, we caution that until the false‐negative rate of sonography for equivocal palpable abnormalities is determined prospectively, sonography cannot be accurately applied to rule out malignancy in this setting. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 28:211–216, 2000.