Application of power Doppler vocal fremitus sonography in breast lesions.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to illustrate the method and use of power Doppler vocal fremitus (PDVF) sonography in the detection and diagnosis of breast lesions.

METHODS

One case was evaluated by various sonographic parameters and equipment to determine how the VF images were affected. Cases illustrative of a broad range of breast conditions were also collected. Each image pair consisted of B-mode and VF images to maintain an identical projection and to illustrate the influence of PDVF sonography.

RESULTS

With B-mode and PDVF sonography, we evaluated and compared various breast conditions, including normal anatomic structures and abnormal lesions. We found that PDVF sonography is useful for distinguishing abnormal masses from normal tissue, such as differentiating between isoechoic tumors and isoechoic glandular tissues, and discriminating entrapped fat lobules from isoechoic tumors. Furthermore, PDVF sonography was useful for determining whether intracystic echoes are attached to the cyst wall.

CONCLUSIONS

Power Doppler VF imaging is a valuable adjunct tool to B-mode sonography in the evaluation of breast lesions.