MARGINAL ZONE DISPLACEMENT PROPERTIES AND ULTRASONIC CONTOUR CHARACTERISTICS - SENSITIVE CRITERIA IN ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSIS OF BREAST PATHOLOGY

88 patients with ultrasonically detected breast tumours were examined at the Department of I Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Technical Uni versity Aachen (RWTH) in the context of a prospective study. Ultrasoni c contour characteristics and marginal zone, displacement properties w ere evaluated with regard to their usefulness as criteria for detectin g malignancy, using a highresolution hand-held 10 Mhz scanner. With re gard to marginal zone displacement as a sign of benignancy, a sensitiv ity of 67.6% and specificity of 86.3% were found (positive and negativ e predictive value reaching 89.3% and 86.3%, respectively), A sensitiv ity of 84.3% and specificity of 86.5% could be demonstrated when an il l-defined, jagged contour was taken as a sign of malignancy, A well-de fined, smooth contour resulted in a sensitivity and specificity of 62. 2% and 100%, respectively, when used as criterion for benig nancy. No clear indication could be found to support the use of an ill-defined b ut smooth contour as a sign of benignancy. 56.3% showing the aforement ioned characteristic were benign, the rest (43.7%) were malignant neop lasias. The evaluation of ultrasonic contour characteristics and margi nal zone displacement properties are hence fundamental criteria to aug ment other characteristic tumour signs in the ultrasonic diagnosis of breast pathology.