Diagnostic Performance of a Combination of Shear Wave Elastography and B-Mode Ultrasonography in Differentiating Benign From Malignant Thyroid Nodules

Objectives@#. This study was conducted to compare clinicopathologic and radiologic factors between benign and malignant thyroid nodules and to evaluate the diagnostic performance of shear wave elastography (SWE) combined with B-mode ultrasonography (US) in differentiating malignant from benign thyroid nodules. @*Methods@#. This retrospective study included 92 consecutive patients with 95 thyroid nodules examined on B-mode US and SWE before US-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy or surgical excision. B-mode US findings (composition, echogenicity, margin, shape, and calcification) and SWE elasticity parameters (maximum [Emax], mean, minimum, and nodule-to-normal parenchymal ratio of elasticity) were reviewed and compared between benign and malignant thyroid nodules. The diagnostic performance of B-mode US and SWE for predicting malignant thyroid nodules was analyzed. The optimal cutoff values of elasticity parameters for identifying malignancy were determined. Diagnostic performance was compared between B-mode US only, SWE only, and the combination of B-mode US with SWE. @*Results@#. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, age (odds ratio [OR], 0.90; P=0.028), a taller-than-wide shape (OR, 11.3; P=0.040), the presence of calcifications (OR, 15.0; P=0.021), and Emax (OR, 1.22; P=0.021) were independent predictors of malignancy in thyroid nodules. The combined use of B-mode US findings and SWE yielded improvements in sensitivity, the positive predictive value, the negative predictive value, and accuracy compared with the use of B-mode US findings only, but with no statistical significance. @*Conclusion@#. When SWE was combined with B-mode US, the diagnostic performance was better than when only B-mode US was used, although the difference was not statistically significant.

Estimation of T2* Relaxation Time of Breast Cancer: Correlation with Clinical, Imaging and Pathological Features

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to estimate the T2* relaxation time in breast cancer, and to evaluate the association between the T2* value with clinical-imaging-pathological features of breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2011 and July 2013, 107 consecutive women with 107 breast cancers underwent multi-echo T2*-weighted imaging on a 3T clinical magnetic resonance imaging system. The Student's t test and one-way analysis of variance were used to compare the T2* values of cancer for different groups, based on the clinical-imaging-pathological features. In addition, multiple linear regression analysis was performed to find independent predictive factors associated with the T2* values. RESULTS: Of the 107 breast cancers, 92 were invasive and 15 were ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). The mean T2* value of invasive cancers was significantly longer than that of DCIS (p = 0.029). Signal intensity on T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) and histologic grade of invasive breast cancers showed significant correlation with T2* relaxation time in univariate and multivariate analysis. Breast cancer groups with higher signal intensity on T2WI showed longer T2* relaxation time (p = 0.005). Cancer groups with higher histologic grade showed longer T2* relaxation time (p = 0.017). CONCLUSION: The T2* value is significantly longer in invasive cancer than in DCIS. In invasive cancers, T2* relaxation time is significantly longer in higher histologic grades and high signal intensity on T2WI. Based on these preliminary data, quantitative T2* mapping has the potential to be useful in the characterization of breast cancer.

Radiofrequency ablation of benign thyroid nodules: evaluation of the treatment efficacy using ultrasonography

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of radiofrequency (RF) ablation for benign thyroid nodules and assess the usefulness of internal factors (ultrasonographic findings) and external factors (treatment-related findings) in prediction of treatment efficacy. METHODS: We evaluated 22 benign thyroid nodules from 19 patients treated with RF ablation between March 2010 and January 2013. The internal and external factors of these nodules were retrospectively reviewed and correlated with the therapeutic success and the volume reduction ratio (VRR). The volume and size of the nodules were determined before treatment, and the VRR was calculated at 6-month and 1-year follow-up examinations after RF ablation. Therapeutic success was defined as a >50% volume reduction. RESULTS: The mean VRRs were 66.1±18.7% at 6 months and 74.3±16.7% at 1 year. The therapeutic success rate after 6 months and 1 year was 81.8% and 90.9%, respectively. At the 1-year follow-up, the margin of the nodule correlated with therapeutic success. Most of the successfully ablated nodules showed well-defined margins on initial ultrasonography (18/20, 90%) (P=0.026). In addition, nodules with ill-defined margins showed a tendency toward having a low VRR at the 6-month and 1-year follow-up examinations. CONCLUSION: RF ablation was effective in decreasing the volume of benign thyroid nodules. Thyroid nodules with well-defined margins tended to show successful outcomes at the 1-year follow-up examination after RF ablation.

Features of Undiagnosed Breast Cancers at Screening Breast MR Imaging and Potential Utility of Computer-Aided Evaluation

OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively evaluate the features of undiagnosed breast cancers on prior screening breast magnetic resonance (MR) images in patients who were subsequently diagnosed with breast cancer, as well as the potential utility of MR-computer-aided evaluation (CAE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between March 2004 and May 2013, of the 72 consecutive pairs of prior negative MR images and subsequent MR images with diagnosed cancers (median interval, 32.8 months; range, 5.4-104.6 months), 36 (50%) had visible findings (mean size, 1.0 cm; range, 0.3-5.2 cm). The visible findings were divided into either actionable or underthreshold groups by the blinded review by 5 radiologists. MR imaging features, reasons for missed cancer, and MR-CAE features according to actionability were evaluated. RESULTS: Of the 36 visible findings on prior MR images, 33.3% (12 of 36) of the lesions were determined to be actionable and 66.7% (24 of 36) were underthreshold; 85.7% (6 of 7) of masses and 31.6% (6 of 19) of non-mass enhancements were classified as actionable lesions. Mimicking physiologic enhancements (27.8%, 10 of 36) and small lesion size (27.8%, 10 of 36) were the most common reasons for missed cancer. Actionable findings tended to show more washout or plateau kinetic patterns on MR-CAE than underthreshold findings, as the 100% of actionable findings and 46.7% of underthreshold findings showed washout or plateau (p = 0.008). CONCLUSION: MR-CAE has the potential for reducing the number of undiagnosed breast cancers on screening breast MR images, the majority of which are caused by mimicking physiologic enhancements or small lesion size.

Addition of Digital Breast Tomosynthesis to Full-Field Digital Mammography in the Diagnostic Setting: Additional Value and Cancer Detectability / 한국유방암학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the value of adding digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) to full-field digital mammography (FFDM) in the diagnostic workup of breast cancer and to determine which lesion variables affect cancer detectability in the combined modality. METHODS: Between March and May 2012, paired FFDM and DBT images were obtained from 203 women as part of a diagnostic workup for breast cancer. Images from FFDM alone, DBT alone, and DBT combined with FFDM were reviewed in separate sessions by six blinded readers. Jackknife alternative free-response receiver operating characteristic (JAFROC) figure of merit (FOM), sensitivity, and specificity were compared between the modalities. Lesion characteristics affecting the cancer detection rate when using the combined modality were also analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 203 women, 126 women had a total of 129 malignancies and 77 women had total of 77 benign lesions. The overall JAFROC FOM of the combined modality was higher than that of FFDM alone (0.827 vs. 0.775, p<0.001) and that of DBT alone was higher than that of FFDM alone (0.807 vs. 0.775, p=0.027). The overall sensitivity of the combined modality was higher than that of FFDM alone (80.0% vs. 73.2%, p<0.001) and that of DBT alone was higher than that of FFDM alone (78.3% vs. 73.2%, p=0.007). Compared to FFDM alone, the combined modality detected an additional 48 cancers. Using the combined modality, the presence of masses or microcalcifications was significantly associated with the cancer detection rate (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The combination of DBT with FFDM results in a higher diagnostic yield than FFDM alone. Additionally, DBT alone performs better than FFDM alone. However, even when DBT is combined with FFDM, breast cancers with no discernible masses and those lacking calcifications are difficult to detect.

Estimation of T2* Relaxation Times for the Glandular Tissue and Fat of Breast at 3T MRI System

PURPOSE: T2* relaxation time which includes susceptibility information represents unique feature of tissue. The objective of this study was to investigate T2* relaxation times of the normal glandular tissue and fat of breast using a 3T MRI system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seven-echo MR Images were acquired from 52 female subjects (age 49 +/- 12 years; range, 25 to 75) using a three-dimensional (3D) gradient-echo sequence. Echo times were between 2.28 ms to 25.72 ms in 3.91 ms steps. Voxel-based T2* relaxation times and R2* relaxation rate maps were calculated by using the linear curve fitting for each subject. The 3D regions-of-interest (ROI) of the normal glandular tissue and fat were drawn on the longest echo-time image to obtain T2* and R2* values. Mean values of those parameters were calculated over all subjects. RESULTS: The 3D ROI sizes were 4818 +/- 4679 voxels and 1455 +/- 785 voxels for the normal glandular tissue and fat, respectively. The mean T2* values were 22.40 +/- 5.61 ms and 36.36 +/- 8.77 ms for normal glandular tissue and fat, respectively. The mean R2* values were 0.0524 +/- 0.0134/ms and 0.0297 +/- 0.0069/ms for the normal glandular tissue and fat, respectively. CONCLUSION: T2* and R2* values were measured from human breast tissues. T2* of the normal glandular tissue was shorter than that of fat. Measurement of T2* relaxation time could be important to understand susceptibility effects in the breast cancer and the normal tissue.

Cowden Syndrome Presenting as Breast Cancer: Imaging and Clinical Features

Cowden syndrome is an uncommon, autosomal dominant disease which is characterized by multiple hamartomas of the skin, mucous membrane, brain, breast, thyroid, and gastrointestinal tract. The diagnosis of Cowden syndrome implicates an increased risk of developing breast cancer. We report a case of a 22-year-old woman with Cowden syndrome that presented as breast cancer with concomitant bilateral exuberant benign masses in both breasts.