Sonoelastography for 1786 non-palpable breast masses: diagnostic value in the decision to biopsy

Objectives To evaluate the diagnostic value of sonoelastography by correlation with histopathology compared with conventional ultrasound on the decision to biopsy. Methods Prospectively determined BI-RADS categories of conventional ultrasound and elasticity scores from strain sonoelastography of 1786 non-palpable breast masses (1,523 benign and 263 malignant) in 1,538 women were correlated with histopathology. The sensitivity and specificity of two imaging techniques were compared regarding the decision to biopsy. We also investigated whether there was a subset of benign masses that were recommended for biopsy by B-mode ultrasound but that had a less than 2% malignancy rate with the addition of sonoelastography. Results The mean elasticity score of malignant lesions was higher than that of benign lesions (2.94 ± 1.10 vs. 1.78 ± 0.81) ( P