From the Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Invest Radiol. 2020 Feb;55(2):68-72. doi: 10.1097/RLI.0000000000000609.
The aim of this study was to describe our initial clinical experiences using a dedicated spiral breast computed tomography (B-CT) with a single photon-counting detector.
This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board. Examinations of 300 consecutive women undergoing B-CT were evaluated on reason of assignment for B-CT instead of mammography, detection rate of breast cancer, and quality criteria of data acquisition. Further evaluated performance indicators were the number of additional ultrasounds examinations due to unclear findings or dense breast tissue and reliability of the technical data acquisition.
Five hundred ninety-one B-CT acquisitions in 300 women were performed. The main reason for preference of B-CT over mammography was the lack of breast compression (254 of 300, 84.7%), which was desired due to personal reasons or mastodynia, whereas 10 patients (0.3%) had implants hampering mammography. One hundred two possible lesions were detected in B-CT including 4 cases of breast cancer (1.3% of all patients). Additional ultrasound was performed in 226 patients (102 due to detected lesions and 124 due to dense breast tissue). Three malignant lesions were only detected in an additional ultrasound (1% of all patients). As a quality criterion, the pectoralis muscle was included in 341 of 591 examinations, but complete assessment of breast tissue was only possible in 149, respectively 140 examinations. No movement artifacts were noted. In 99% of all women, the examination could be realized.
The dedicated B-CT provides high-quality images. It can be used as alternative particularly in those patients not otherwise willing to perform mammography because of the breast compression.
本研究旨在描述我们使用专用螺旋式乳腺计算机断层扫描（B-CT）和单光子计数探测器的初步临床经验。
本回顾性研究获得了机构审查委员会的批准。评估了 300 例连续接受 B-CT 检查的女性，其原因是 B-CT 而非乳房 X 线摄影的分配、乳腺癌的检出率以及数据采集的质量标准。进一步评估的性能指标是由于不明确的发现或致密的乳腺组织而进行的额外超声检查的数量以及技术数据采集的可靠性。
在 300 名女性中进行了 591 次 B-CT 采集。选择 B-CT 而非乳房 X 线摄影的主要原因是缺乏乳房压迫（300 例中的 254 例，84.7%），由于个人原因或乳房痛而希望避免，而 10 例（0.3%）患者因植入物妨碍乳房 X 线摄影。在 B-CT 中发现了 102 个可能的病变，包括 4 例乳腺癌（所有患者的 1.3%）。在 226 例患者中进行了额外的超声检查（102 例是因为发现了病变，124 例是因为致密的乳腺组织）。仅在额外的超声检查中发现了 3 个恶性病变（所有患者的 1%）。作为质量标准，341 次检查中包含了胸大肌，但仅在 149 次检查（140 次检查）中可以完整评估乳腺组织。未观察到运动伪影。在 99%的女性中，可以进行检查。
专用的 B-CT 提供高质量的图像。它可以作为替代方法，特别是在那些由于乳房压迫而不愿意进行乳房 X 线摄影的患者中使用。
