[Ultrasonographic diagnosis of intracystic breast tumors]

Ultrasonography was performed on 1805 patients with breast diseases during the past 3 years and 20 (1.1%) intracystic tumors were detected. Among 20 intracystic tumors, 14 were finally diagnosed as benign and 6 as malignant. None of the 6 malignant lesions was judged as exclusively malignant and only 3 were considered as suspiciously malignant by ultrasonography. Ultrasonography is effective in making the location of intracystic tumors clear but not suitable for distinguishing malignant tumor from those that are benign. On the contrary, among the 6 malignant lesions, 5 were diagnosed as malignant and 1 as suspiciously malignant by aspiration cytology. Therefore, a combined examination of ultrasonography and aspiration cytology is a useful method for preoperative diagnosis of intracystic breast tumors.