Doppler ultrasound in the diagnosis of breast lesions

This article reviews the current status of Doppler sonography in breast neoplasms. The results already reported in the literature all indicate that more vessels are displayed and higher flow velocities are measured in malignant tumors than in benign conditions. The potential role of Doppler sonography remains to be definitively determined. It appears that high measured flow velocities and markedly elevated number of detectable vessel density indicate malignancy. However, Doppler sonography does not make it possible to rule out cancer, since a subset of malignant tumors show few Doppler signals or none at all. The use of Doppler sonography for monitoring the results of treatment is currently being evaluated.