Ultrasound demonstration of mammographically detected microcalcifications

Purpose. To evaluate the capabilities of breast ultrasound (US) for identif ying microcalcifications in benign breast changes, in situ carcinomas, and small nonpalpable invasive carcinomas. Material and Methods: Forty-six consecutive patients with 49 clustered micr ocalcifications detected by mammography were included in this prospective s tudy. Patients with palpable breast lesions were excluded. Breast US was pe rformed with knowledge of mammographic findings for presence and visibility of microcalcifications, and for parenchymal structure abnormalities. Mammo graphic and US findings were compared with histology. Results: Nine ductal in situ carcinomas, 2 lobular in situ carcinomas, 11 i nvasive carcinomas and 27 benign lesions were confirmed by histology. For a ll lesions, US achieved a sensitivity of 75% in the detection of microcalci fications. The detection rate for microcalcification in invasive and in sit u carcinomas was 100%. In 11 cases, no microcalcifications were visible on US; they all proved to be benign on histology. Conclusion: Microcalcifications in malignant lesions are reliably recognize d by US. They are, however, difficult to detect in fibrocystic breast chang es.