Affiliation:
1. Department of Ultrasonography, The Affiliated Changsha Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University (The First Hospital of Changsha)
2. Department of Medical Record and Statistical Analysis, Hunan Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital
3. Department of Pathology and
4. Department of Obstetrics, The Affiliated Changsha Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University (The First Hospital of Changsha), Changsha, Hunan, PR China.
Abstract
Objectives
In recent years, the use of shear-wave elastography (SWE) as a diagnostic tool for detecting malignant breast lesions has shown promising results. This study aims to determine the clinical diagnostic value of SWE in detecting malignant nipple retraction.
Methods
Both US and SWE (Philips EPIQ7 system) were performed for 41 consecutive patients with nipple retraction (56 nipples). The mean, median, and maximum tissue elasticity values (in kilopascals) were determined for each nipple by using SWE. The sensitivity, specificity, and overall accuracy of each measurement was determined by using the surgical pathology results or clinical diagnosis as the gold standard.
Results
Of the 56 retracted nipples, 32 were due to benign lesions, and 24 were due to malignant lesions. No significant differences in dimensions or echo features were found between the benign and malignant groups. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of the color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI) pattern were 63.89% (23/36), 95% (19/20), 95.83 (23/24), 59.38 (19/32), and 75% (42/56), respectively; the corresponding values for median elasticity on SWE were 88.46% (23/26), 96.67% (29/30), 95.83 (23/24), 90.63 (29/32), and 92.85 (52/56), respectively.
Conclusions
The addition of SWE to conventional US could help differentiate benign from malignant lesions associated with nipple retraction.
Publisher
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)