Combined use of the ultrasound elastography and the automated breast volume scanner in differentiation of benign and malignant breast imaging reporting and data system 4 breast lesions

Objectives To investigate the diagnostic performance of the combination of ultrasound elastography and automated breast volume scanner (ABVS) in differentiation of benign and malignant breast imaging reporting and data system (BI-RADS) 4 breast lesions. Methods Data from 137 breast cancer patients (147 tumors) confirmed pathologically were analyzed. Each tumor was examined by ABVS and ultrasound elastography. All tumors were diagnosed as BI-RADS 4 by ABVS. With final pathology results as the gold standard, the predictive value in differentiating BI-RADS 4 breast lesions between ultrasound elastography and the combination of ultrasound elastography and ABVS were compared. Results There were 54 benign nodules and 93 malignant nodules in this study. The diagnostic sensitivity of ultrasound elastography and the combination of ultrasound elastography and ABVS were 94.6% and 98.9%, the specificity were 57.4% and 57.4%, the accuracy were 81.0% and 83.7%, the area under the curve were 0.858 and 0.965, respectively. The diagnostic performance of ultrasound elastography combined with ABVS was better than that of ultrasound elastography. Conclusions Ultrasound elastography have certain value in differential diagnosis of BI-RADS 4 breast lesions, especially when combining with ABVS, which will improve its diagnostic accuracy. Ultrasound elastography combined with ABVS can improve the detection rate of malignant lesions in BI-RADS 4 breast lesions and reduce the rate of preoperative biopsy, and it has a good application prospect. Key words: Automated breast volume scanner; Elasticity imaging techniques; Breast diseases; Breast imaging reporting and data system