Breast metastases in adolescent girls: US findings

We report five adolescent girls with secondary breast tumours. All were imaged by US and the imaging findings have been analysed. Four girls had rhabdomyosarcoma as the primary malignant disease and one had leukaemia. US features were variable, but most of the cases showed heterogeneous nodules which were quite different from the usual benign lesions (fibroadenoma, abscess, cyst) encountered at this age. The metastases produced a variety of echo characteristics: masses with well-defined margins, hyperechoic foci and sonolucent or hypoechoic nodules with posterior attenuation or lacking posterior enhancement. One lesion was round and heterogeneous with a hyperechoic centre. These US findings in an adolescent girl suggest the need for fine-needle aspiration. Mammograms, when performed, never revealed microcalcifications and were quite difficult to analyse at this age, due to the dense glandular breast tissue.