Accuracy of CESM versus conventional mammography and ultrasound in evaluation of BI-RADS 3 and 4 breast lesions with pathological correlation

Aim

Assess accuracy of contrast enhanced spectral mammography (CESM) versus conventional mammography and ultrasound in evaluation of BI-RADS 3 and 4 breast lesions with pathological correlation.

Patients and methods

Thirty female patients with 35 breast lesions diagnosed by conventional imaging as BI-RADS 3 and 4, presented to Women’s Imaging Unit of Radiology Department between January and December 2015, age ranged from 23 to 70 years. All patients underwent conventional mammography and ultrasound then CESM.

Results

Patients divided into two groups, benign and malignant lesions group according to histological analysis. Mammography results that malignant lesions detected in 18/35 (51.4%) while benign lesions 17/35 (48.6%). Ultrasound revealed 27/35 (77.1%) lesions were malignant and 8/35 (22.9%) lesions benign. But CESM, revealed 25/35 (71.4%) lesions were malignant & 10/35 (28.6%) lesions benign. Among 7 patients with multifocal/ multi-centric histologically proven malignant lesions, all detected by CESM 7/7 cases (100%) versus 2/7 cases (28.6%) and 6/7 cases (85.7%) detected by mammography and ultrasound respectively. Based on, CESM had 95.2% sensitivity and 82.9% diagnostic accuracy.

Conclusion

CESM has better diagnostic accuracy than mammography alone and mammography plus ultrasound. CESM has 82.9% diagnostic accuracy in comparison to 51.4% for mammography and 77.1% for ultrasound.