Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the strain ratio measurement of breast lesions, to calculate the diagnostic value and to provide practically oriented recommendations concerning execution.
Materials and methods: 117 breast lesions in 98 patients were included in the study. All lesions were examined by B-mode ultrasound and elastography using strain ratio measurement. The preinterventional findings of the different methods were compared to the final histopathological results. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value and the diagnostic accuracy were calculated for each method.
Results: There was a significant difference between the strain ratio of malignant (mean 6.50; sd 3.03; 95 %-CI 5.68 - 7.33) and benign (mean 1.79; sd 3.83; 95 %-CI 0.92 - 2.75) lesions. The strain ratio showed a sensitivity of 92.6 % (95 %-CI 82.1 - 97.9) and a specificity of 95.2 % (95 %-CI 86.7 - 99.0). The positive and negative predictive values were 94.3 % and 93.7 %. B-mode ultrasound achieved a sensitivity of 94.4 % (95 %-CI 84.6 - 98.8) and a specificity of 87.3 % (95 %-CI 76.5 - 94.3). The positive and negative predictive values were 86.4 % and 94.8 %.
Conclusion: Strain ratio measurement of breast lesions is a standardized fast method for analyzing the stiffness inside the examined areas. Used as an additional tool to B-mode ultrasound, it helps to increase the specificity of the examination.
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.