Application of a Novel Microvascular Imaging Technique in Breast Lesion Evaluation

Conventional power Doppler imaging (PDI) and the novel Superb Microvascular Imaging (SMI) technique were applied to observe the distribution of microvessels in 135 breast lesions, using semi-quantitative grading, penetrating vessel evaluation and flow distribution pattern to evaluate diagnostic efficacy. Compared with PDI, SMI detected more flow signals and details of microvessels. Further, when a centrally distributed branching or diffusing mode was used as a criterion for diagnosing malignancy, SMI improved diagnosis of breast masses. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of SMI-assessed flow distribution were 85.4%, 92.6%, 83.3% and 93.5%, respectively, compared with 70.7%, 92.6%, 80.5% and 87.9% for PDI. We also found that flow distribution pattern analysis is superior to semi-quantitative grading and the penetrating vessel method in differentiating malignant breast lesions. Our work here further supports SMI as a novel and promising technique in visualizing microvasculature in breast lesions that may be of paramount use in initial diagnosis as well as follow-up assessment in various treatment regimes.