DUCTAL ORIENTATED SONOGRAPHY IMPROVES THE DIAGNOSIS OF PATHOLOGICAL NIPPLE DISCHARGE OF THE FEMALE BREAST COMPARED WITH GALACTOGRAPHY

In case of abnormal nipple discharge of the female breast galactograph y is a recognized radiological procedure to identify and to localize i ntraductal growths or other ductal abnormalities. However, it harbours several methodological problems. In ductal orientated sonography the availablity of high frequency linear transducers enables us now to vis ualize the mammary ducts in detail. The aim of this study was to compa re both methods with respect to the detection of the cause of patholog ical nipple discharge. Thirthy-five patients were first examined by du ctal orientated sonography with a 13 MHz linear transducer. The result s of sonography were recorded in detail before galactography was perfo rmed. Ductal abnormalities were found by sonography in 26 patients and by galactography in 19 patients. In 24 cases both methods revealed co ncurring results. Among those, 17 cases showed pathological findings a nd seven cases had normal ducts. In nine patients sonography revealed pathological results whereas galactography was completely normal. In o nly two cases sonography failed to show ductal abnormalities which wer e detected by galactography. Our study underlines that ductal orientat ed sonography is a promising method of diagnosis in abnormal nipple di scharge, which may be recommended to be performed routinely before gal actography. (C) 1998 Rapid Science Ltd.