Diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound parametric imaging in breast tumors

This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of SonoLiver software for parametric imaging in breast tumors.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) was performed in 216 breast lesions (113 malignant, 103 benign). The CEUS parameters were compared between benign and malignant lesions. The rise time, the time to peak, the mean transit time and dynamic vessel pattern (DVP) were analyzed using SonoLiver software.

Quantitative analysis showed that the rise time was 16.52±4.15 seconds in the benign group vs. 13.86±3.36 seconds in the malignant group (p=0.007), and the time to peak was 19.86±4.87 seconds in the benign group vs. 16.52±4.85 seconds in the malignant group (p=0.009). The mean transit time was 80.55±18.65 seconds in the benign group vs. 65.16±20.28 seconds in the malignant group (p=0.006). The difference between the distribution of DVP in benign and malignant tumors was statistically significant. One hundred one malignant tumors (89.4%) performed an irregular red/yellow fill in the region of interest (ROI) and 85 benign tumors (82.5%) performed a single blue/green fill in the ROI. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of parametric imaging in breast tumors were 84.1%, 85.4%, 84.7%, respectively.

The CEUS parametric imaging can distinguish differences between malignant and benign breast tumors as well as provide diagnostic information on breast lesions.