Superb microvascular imaging in diagnosis of breast lesions: a comparative study with contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic microvascular imaging

To evaluate the diagnostic performance of superb microvascular imaging (SMI) in breast lesions, comparing with contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic microvascular imaging (MVI). From April to November 2015, 132 patients (with 132 breast lesions) were enrolled in the retrospective study. All lesions were evaluated with colour Doppler flow imaging (CDFI), colour SMI (cSMI), monochrome SMI (mSMI) and contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic MVI. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to compare the diagnostic performance of SMI and MVI for discrimination between benign and malignant breast lesions. Histological analysis showed 58 malignant and 74 benign lesions. mSMI was more sensitive in detecting blood flow signals in breast lesions than CDFI (p