Breast tumor vascularity identified by contrast enhanced ultrasound and pathology: initial results

Quantifiable measures of vascularity obtained from contrast enhanced color flow images were correlated with pathologic vascularity measurements in ten female patients with a solid breast mass. Each patient received Levovist I njection(R) (Berlex Laboratories Inc., Montville, NJ). Color flow images pr e- and post-contrast were obtained using an HDI 3000 unit (ATL, Bothell, WA ) before removing the mass for pathologic vascularity assessments. Image-pr ocessing techniques were used to obtain both the ultrasound and pathologic vascularity measurements. Multiple linear regression found significant corr elations for ultrasonic vascularity measurements post contrast and patholog y (P=0.02 and 0.06). No correlations were found between pre-contrast ultras ound and pathology. In conclusion, post-contrast ultrasonic flow measures p rovide a non-invasive measure of breast tumor neovascularity. However, the patient population is small, and until further patients are analyzed, these conclusions are preliminary. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights res erved.