[Ultrasound diagnosis of breast nodules]

The authors show the comparative data on ultrasonic examination and mammography in 204 patients with nodular new growths in the breast: 66 had breast carcinoma and 138 had benign diseases. They suggest 6 ultrasonic criteria characteristic of breast carcinoma and describe the ultrasonic picture of the most commonly encountered benign breast tumors: fibroadenoma, nodular mastopathy, cysts. USE sensitivity was 68.8 +/- 7% in breast carcinoma, 82.6 +/- 8.1% in fibroadenoma, 72.8 +/- 7.2% in nodular mastopathy, and 100% in cysts (the respective values in mammography were 76.7 +/- 6.4%, 69.6 +/- 9.8%, 74.4 +/- 7%, and 60 +/- 11.2%). USE sensitivity and sensitivity of mammography were found to differ for different age categories in early forms of breast carcinoma. It is shown that the histological structure of a malignant tumor may be assumed from the ultrasonic criteria. The authors conclude that USE has a high diagnostic value in nodular new growths of the breast and that differential diagnosis of malignant and benign lesions is possible.