Sonographic findings following conservative surgery and irradiation for breast carcinoma

Postoperative care of patients who have received conservative surgery for breast cancer and subsequent radiotherapy is of ever greater significance. Both the clinical and the mammographic investigation are difficult in the post-irradiation phase. The present study was designed to appraise the value of real-time sonography in this group of patients. 106 patients were examined postoperatively with a high-resolution hand-held real-time scanner. The following alterations, found in the real-time sonogram, were compared to the normal sonographic appearance: (total echogenicity, feasibility of diagnosing the scar region, skin thickening, double contour of the skin, echogenicity of subcutaneous fat, Cooper's ligaments, striping, echogenicity of glandular tissue, architecture of glandular tissue). These alterations do not deter appraisal of the sonograms in the search for recurrences. Six out of seven recurrences, demonstrated histologically, were detected and correctly diagnosed by sonography. These results make real-time sonography the supplementary method of first choice in postoperative care of conservatively treated breast cancer patients.