Combination of Ultrasound Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System with Ultrasound Elastography for Small Breast Mass / 中国医学影像学杂志

ABSTRACT

PurposeSmall breast mass (diameter≤1 cm) is prone to misdiagnosis in clinic. This paper aims to evaluate a combined application of breast imaging reporting and data system (BI-RADS) and ultrasound elastography (UE) on small breast mass (diameter≤1 cm).Materials and MethodsA retrospective analysis was carried out on 231 patients with a total of 258 small masses (the maximal diameter ≤1 cm). Ultrasound BI-RADS was used for classiifcation while UE was used to adjust the results. The results were further compared with those of postoperative pathology. The curve of ROC was employed to evaluate the combined use on small breast mass.ResultsAmong the 258 small masses, 178 (69.0%) were benign masses and the rest 80 (31.0%) were malignant. The small masses which were evaluated as BI-RADS grade 3, 4 and 5 before the operation had positive prediction value for malignant masses of 10.3% (17/165), 60.5% (46/76) and 100.0% (17/17), respectively. After adjustment with UE, the values changed to 5.3%(9/169), 75.0% (54/72) and 100.0% (17/17), respectively. After adjustment with the combination method, the area under ROC curve in BI-RADS classification was 0.904, which was signiifcantly higher than that (0.827) before the adjustment (Z=2.83,P<0.05). ConclusionFor small breast mass (diameter≤1 cm), mass of BI-RADS grade 3 has higher positive prediction value. But after adjustment with UE, the positive prediction value of mass of BI-RADS grade 3 tends to be lower, whilst that of mass of BI-RADS grade 4 increases, thus promoting the efficiency of ultrasound BI-RADS classification for small breast mass and contributing to the identiifcation of benign and malignant small breast masses.