Implementation of Elastography Score and Strain Ratio in Combination with B-Mode Ultrasound Avoids Unnecessary Biopsies of Breast Lesions

Publication date: Available online 13 January 2017
Source:Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology
Author(s): Kristina Bojanic, Natasa Katavic, Martina Smolic, Marija Peric, Kristina Kralik, Miroslav Sikora, Kristina Vidačić, Mirta Pacovski, Damir Stimac, Gordana Ivanac
The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the combination of B-mode ultrasound, elastography score (ES) and strain ratio (SR) improves diagnostic performance with respect to breast lesions. One hundred thirty lesions were prospectively evaluated by B-mode ultrasound and strain elastography, followed by fine-needle aspiration cytology/biopsy in 117 woman who were scheduled for regular breast BUS. The median ES (4.5 vs. 2.9, p < 0.001) and SR (4.9 vs. 2.3, p < 0.001) were significantly higher for malignant than for benign lesions. A sensitivity of 90.5% and specificity of 93.2% for the ES (cutoff point = 3.8) and a sensitivity of 87.5% and specificity of 87.6% for the SR (cutoff point = 3.5) were obtained. Elastography combined with B-mode ultrasound improved the specificity, accuracy and positive predictive value. Receiver operating characteristic curves yielded a higher value for the combined technique for diagnosis of breast lesions. Routine use of such a diagnostic algorithm could reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies.



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