AUTOMATIC BREAST SONOGRAPHY AND MAMMOGRAPHY - DIFFERENTIATION BETWEENBENIGN AND MALIGNANT BREAST-LESIONS

Purpose: A prospective study on the differentiation of breast lesions was carried out using experimental combination schemes of mammography and automatic sonography. Materials and Methods: X-ray mammograms and a B image from automatic sonography of 39 malignant and 41 benign lesi ons as well as 40 cases without lesions were separately examined by fo ur experienced diagnosticians. The observers differentiated the findin gs mammographically and by measurement in the B images. Results: For t wo examiners the combination of mammography and automatic sonography g ave with regard to the differentiation of breast lesions an improvemen t in sensitivity of 3 or 5% and in specificity of 31 and 18%, respecti vely, as compared to mammography alone while for the other two examine rs an improved specificity of 21 and 36%, respectively, was accompanie d by an 8 and 10% decrease in sensitivity as compared to mammography a lone. Conclusions: The differentiating criteria from automatic sonogra phy and mammography can, in principle, be used to evaluate the dignity of breast lesions. However, an optimization is necessary since the im provement in specificity does not compensate the loss in sensitivity.