Doppler sonography in breast pathology.

Breast sonography has been a standard complementary procedure to mammography for more than 10 years. In recent years, a tremendous technological evolution has taken place both at the level of the equipment, electronics and software, and in probe technology. This has resulted in a substantial increase in image quality (contrast ans spatial resolution) and in Doppler sensitivity. The use of linear probes of at least 7 MHz is mandatory, and frequencies of over 10 MHz are becoming standard now. Sonography of the breast not only permits differentiation between solid and cystic lesion, but also gives additional morphological details which enable differentiation between benign and malignant lesions. US increases both sensitivity and specificity of the breast exam when combined with X-ray mammography. It is also the method of choice for guiding interventional procedures, such as hook wire placement, FNAC, or core biopsy. Doppler has been used since the seventies (continuous wave Doppler), but more recently the use of color Doppler has proven to be valuable in the study of the vascularity of breast lesions.