ABSTRACT
Breast biopsy results in many radiographic abnormalities, some of which may be mistaken for carcinoma. A retrospective review of 4,023 mammographic examinations was undertaken to determine the incidence and natural history of postbiopsy changes, in order to provide background information helpful in differentiating postsurgical scarring from breast cancer. The study comprised 863 patients who had undergone biopsy before mammography (1,049 breasts). Abnormalities attributed to prior biopsy were found in 474 breasts (45%). Skin changes (thickening and deformity), architectural distortion, and parenchymal scars (poorly defined masses often with spiculated margins) were observed much less frequently 3 years after biopsy than they were within the first 6 months, suggesting that considerable resolution can be expected with time. All abnormal mammographic findings were detected in patients radiographed within 6 months of biopsy, most within 1-2 months of biopsy. These observations may be helpful, in carefully selected cases, in establishing the benign (i.e., postsurgical) nature of radiographic abnormalities that might otherwise be confused with malignancy.
Subject(s)
Biopsy , Breast Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging , Mammography , Biopsy/adverse effects , Breast/pathology , Calcinosis/diagnostic imaging , Calcinosis/etiology , Cicatrix/diagnostic imaging , Cicatrix/etiology , Female , Humans , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Scar tissue within the breast parenchyma, when dense and located adjacent to fatty tissue, often appears as a poorly defined, spiculated mass on mammography. Intramammary scars may also appear as areas of architectural distortion or clustered microcalcification, sometimes associated with thickening or retraction of overlying skin. Because of the difficulty in differentiating such benign lesions from carcinoma, false-positive diagnoses of cancer occur. This article illustrates the radiographic spectrum of intramammary scars to familiarize the reader with this entity. Although several differential criteria have been described to help distinguish benign scarring from carcinoma, these features are not totally dependable, resulting in the need for biopsy in most cases and careful clinical and radiographic observation in others.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging , Cicatrix/diagnostic imaging , Mammography , Adult , Aged , Biopsy/adverse effects , Breast Neoplasms/pathology , Cicatrix/etiology , Cicatrix/pathology , Diagnosis, Differential , False Positive Reactions , Female , Humans , Middle AgedABSTRACT
The role of contact B-mode ultrasonography in demonstrating prosthetic vascular grafts was assessed in 24 patients (27 grafts). All grafts were well delineated. End-to-side bypass grafts could be separated from end-to-end replacement grafts by their characteristic appearance. Patent and occluded grafts could not be distinguished either in vivo or in vitro. However, B-mode ultrasonography was ideally suited to the detection of other complications of vascular prosthetic grafts: hematoma, infection, and false aneurysm formation.
Subject(s)
Blood Vessel Prosthesis , Postoperative Complications , Ultrasonography , Aneurysm/diagnosis , Aneurysm/etiology , Aorta/surgery , Femoral Artery/surgery , Hematoma/diagnosis , Hematoma/etiology , Infections/diagnosis , Infections/etiologyABSTRACT
Fourteen patients are presented to illustrate the usefulness of ultrasonography in assessing masses of the neck. Included are five patients with primary tumors, two with metastasis to a cervical node, three with cervical adenitis, two with simple cysts, and two with hematoma related to endarterectomy for occlusive disease of the carotid artery.
Subject(s)
Neck , Ultrasonography , Cat-Scratch Disease/diagnosis , Cysts/diagnosis , Head and Neck Neoplasms/diagnosis , Hematoma/diagnosis , Humans , Lymphadenitis/diagnosisABSTRACT
Ultrasonography can be used to diagnose the presence of multiple gallstones, despite the fact that the gallbladder, per se, may not demonstrated. The finding of many echoes in the area occupied by the gallbladder that cast a large acoustical shadow is strongly suggestive of gallstones.
Subject(s)
Cholelithiasis/diagnosis , Ultrasonography , Adult , Cholecystography , Cholelithiasis/diagnostic imaging , Female , Humans , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
A total of 150 patients with germinal testicular neoplasms treated at the University of California, San Francisco, were reviewed. The 5-year actuarial survival rate was 95% for 57 patients with seminoma and 56% for 75 patients with carcinoma. Treatment modalities were compared with respect to sites and causes of failure and complications. The most common sites of failure in the carcinoma patients were lung, and supraclavicular or mediastinal lymph nodes. Scrotal orchiectomy, elevated gonadotropins, elements of choriocarcinoma, and bulky abdominal disease were all correlated with high treatment failure rate.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma/radiotherapy , Dysgerminoma/radiotherapy , Testicular Neoplasms/radiotherapy , Carcinoma/mortality , Dysgerminoma/mortality , Humans , Male , Neoplasm Recurrence, Local , Neoplasm Staging , Radiotherapy, High-Energy/adverse effects , Testicular Neoplasms/mortalitySubject(s)
Encephalocele/diagnosis , Meningocele/diagnosis , Prenatal Diagnosis , Ultrasonography , Achondroplasia/complications , Adult , Female , Humans , PregnancyABSTRACT
Urographic, arteriographic and B-mode echographic findings in a four-year-old girl with tumefactive xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis are reported. Review of our case and those that preceded it illustrates that when a localized mass in a functioning kidney is encountered radiographically in a child, xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis should be included in the preoperative differential diagnosis. Nephrectomy may then be avoided.