title: Anisotropic Properties of Breast Tissue Measured by Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Quantification.
abstract: The goal of our study was to investigate the anisotropy of normal breast glandular and fatty tissue with acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) quantification. A total of 137 breasts in 137 women were enrolled. These breasts were divided into the duct-apparent group and the duct-inapparent group, divided into the ligament-apparent group and the ligament-inapparent group. Shear wave velocity (SWV) in the radial (SWV(r)) and anti-radial (SWV(a-r)) directions was measured. The elastic anisotropy of glandular tissue and fatty tissue was evaluated as the ratio between SWV(r) and SWV(a-r). The SWV ratio was 1.30 ± 0.45 for glandular tissue and 1.27 ± 0.53 for fatty tissue in the total group. In glandular tissue, the SWV ratio of the duct-apparent group was higher than that of the duct-inapparent group (p = 0.011). In both glandular and fatty tissue, the SWV ratio was higher in the ligament-apparent group than in the ligament-inapparent group (p < 0.05 for both). SWV(r) was higher than SWV(a-r) in both glandular tissue and fatty tissue in all groups (p < 0.05 for all) except in breast fatty tissue in the ligament-inapparent group (p = 0.913). It is concluded that both breast glandular tissue and fatty tissue exhibited anisotropy of elastic behavior. To improve the diagnostic power of elastography in breast lesions, the elastic anisotropy of glandular tissue and fatty tissue should be taken into account in calculating strain ratio or elasticity ratio.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: JianQiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: ZhiFang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: shanghairuijin@126.com.
authors.forename: WeiWei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: YiJie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016880:Anisotropy; D001940:Breast / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012372:ROC Curve; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Acoustic radiation force impulse; Anisotropy; Breast imaging; Elastography; Shear wave speed; Ultrasound