Combining Virtual Touch Tissue Imaging and BI-RADS May Improve Solid Breast Lesion Evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Ultrasound elastography (UE) is a novel imaging method. The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of Virtual Touch tissue imaging in the evaluation of solid breast lesions.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: 209 breast solid lesions in 192 patients that had been evaluated using ultrasound (US) and UE were reviewed and analyzed.

RESULTS: The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for UE, US, and US plus UE in the differentiation of malignant from benign breast lesions were 80.8, 75.6, 77.9, 73.1, and 82.8% for UE, 87.2, 86.1, 86.6, 83.7, and 89.2% for US, and 92.5, 86.9, 89.5, 85.3, and 93.4% for US plus UE. There were significant differences between UE and US plus UE (all p < 0.05). Except for accuracy, there were no significant differences between UE and US or US and US plus UE (all p > 0.05). The area under the curve obtained from the ROC curve for UE, US, and US plus UE in differentiating malignant from benign lesions was 0.845, 0.884, and 0.922, respectively.

CONCLUSION: The UE scoring system is not superior to BI-RADS in the sonographic evaluation of solid breast lesions. Combined use may improve the performance.