[Ultrasonic examination of the breast lesions]

Todays topics on ultrasonic imaging such as ultrasounds of small cancers, noninvasive carcinoma and microcalcifications in breast cancers are discussed. For small breast cancers, 10 mm for infiltrating type and 15 mm for circumscribed type were necessary to be fully diagnosed by US. Of noninvasive ductal carcinomas, a half of them showed the same US pattern as that of invasive ca. and 20% fibrocystic like pattern. The low echoic areas of noninvasive ca. were more round, more different in size and lower echo level than that of fibrocystic disease. The detection of microcalcifications in breast cancers were finely succeeded by US in 63% of cases. Microcalcifications were described by US at first clinically and then ascertained by breast US phantoms. They were described as fine echogenic spots without shadowing low echoic cancer area.