Diagnostic evaluation of sonographically visualized breast lesions by using a new clinical amplitude/velocity reference imaging technique (CARI sonography).
OBJECTIVE
The goal of this study was to evaluate and differentiate breast lesions in patients by sonographic measurements performed using CARI sonography.


METHODS
Thirty-one patients with 33 histologically proven breast lesions were examined by mammography, conventional ultrasound sonography, and CARI sonography. Investigation with mammography-like positioning was performed in case of CARI sonography. The ratios of the lesion diameters were calculated in a craniocaudal and a mediolateral plane. The results were compared with the results obtained with conventional modalities.


RESULTS
Breast lesions were detected with the best sensitivity (100%) and a high specificity (86%) using B-mode ultrasound sonography. Mammography resulted in a sensitivity of 92% and a specificity of 91%, whereas the CARI sonography yielded 100% sensitivity and 67% specificity.


CONCLUSIONS
The differentiation of lesions by measurements performed with CARI sonography resulted in a high sensitivity. The specificity, however, was inferior compared with the other imaging modalities. This may limit the routine application of the technique for clinical diagnoses of breast lesions. However, due to the small number of patients investigated in this pilot study, the full potential should be evaluated in a larger collective of patients.
Schütze
B
B
Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Germany.
Marx
C
C
Fleck
M
M
Reichenbach
J
J
Kaiser
W A
WA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016217:Ultrasonography, Mammary / Q000379:methods*