Breast ultrasonography

Abstract

Breast ultrasound is the second most used imaging method aftermammography in the evaluation of breast lesions because of itslow cost, accessibility, absence of ionize radiation and ability todifferentiate a solid from a cystic lesion. Also it assesses with accuracy the subcutaneous cellular tissue and the axilar region allowingto detect sebaceous cysts, lymph nodes or abscess. The currentindications include the evaluation of a palpable lesion in a womanless than 30 years old , to characterize cystic lesions, to evaluate palpable and non palpable abnormalities in older women, to guide interventional procedures, and to evaluate breast implants and the breast in pregnant women. The main disadvantages are the difficulty to reproduce the findings, the higher false positive rate and the fact that it is operator dependent. Ultrasound BI-RADS is very importantto grade the lesions and to standarize the procedures. The purposeof this article is to review the mammary ultrasound indications, lesion characterization and to give suggestions according to these findings.

Keywords

• Breast ultrasonography
• Cystic lesions
• Breast lesions.