[A new ultrasound method for examination of the breast]

In the present paper, a new sonographic method of examining the breast is described. In the form of a laboratory model, it has been used to investigate 245 preoperative patients and 146 women referred for conventional sonography of the breast. All the patients had also undergone mammography. With the new procedure the examination situation is identical to that used for mammography, with a stainless steel plate (reference reflector) placed beneath the breast, and which appears on the B scan behind healthy tissue as a straight white line. Disordered reflectivity and elevation of this line indicate the presence of a lesion. Measurement of the lesion and the elevation of the reference line permit differentiation between benign and malignant disease. The use of both X-ray and sonographic findings improved the detection of cancers and reduced false-positive benign findings. Further technical improvements to this sonographic procedure could make it as rapid and reliable as mammography.