Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL)- Radiology Section, University of Genova, Via L.B. Alberti 2, 16132, Genoa, Italy.
IRCCS - Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Largo Rosanna Benzi. 10, 16132, Genoa, Italy.
Radiol Med. 2020 Dec;125(12):1243-1248. doi: 10.1007/s11547-020-01209-8. Epub 2020 May 4.
Breast density is an independent risk factor for breast cancer. Mammography is supplemented with handheld ultrasound (HHUS) to increase sensitivity. Automatic breast ultrasound (ABUS) is an alternative to HHUS. Our study wanted to assess the difference in execution and reading time between ABUS and HHUS.
N = 221 women were evaluated consecutively between January 2019 and June 2019 (average age 53 years; range 24-89). The execution and reading time of ABUS and HHUS was calculated with an available stopwatch. Time started for both procedures when the patient was ready on the examination table to be examined to the end of image acquisition and interpretation.
No patients interrupted the exam due to pain or discomfort. N = 221 women underwent ABUS and HHUS; N = 11 patients refused to undergo both procedures due to time constraints and refused ABUS; therefore, 210 patients were enrolled with both ABUS and HHUS available. The average time to perform and read the exam was 5 min for HHUS (DS ± 1.5) with a maximum time of 11 min and a minimum of 2 min. The average time with ABUS was 17 min (DS ± 3.8, with a maximum time of 31 min and a minimum time of 9 min). The ABUS technique took longer to be performed in all patients, with an average difference of 11 min (range 3-23 min) per patient, P < 0,001. Separating ABUS execution from reading time we highlighted as ABUS execution is more time-consuming respect HHUS. In addition, we can underline that time required by radiologists is longer for ABUS even only considering the interpretation time of the exam.
A significant difference was observed in the execution and reading time of the two exams, where the HHUS method was more rapid and tolerated.
乳房密度是乳腺癌的一个独立危险因素。乳房 X 线摄影术辅以手持超声（HHUS）以提高灵敏度。自动乳腺超声（ABUS）是 HHUS 的替代方法。我们的研究旨在评估 ABUS 和 HHUS 在执行和阅读时间上的差异。
2019 年 1 月至 2019 年 6 月期间连续评估了 221 名女性（平均年龄 53 岁；范围 24-89）。使用可用的秒表计算 ABUS 和 HHUS 的执行和阅读时间。这两种程序的时间从患者在检查台上准备好接受检查开始，到图像采集和解释结束时结束。
没有患者因疼痛或不适而中断检查。221 名女性接受了 ABUS 和 HHUS 检查；由于时间限制，11 名患者拒绝同时进行这两项检查，并拒绝 ABUS；因此，有 210 名患者同时进行了 ABUS 和 HHUS 检查。HHUS 进行和阅读检查的平均时间为 5 分钟（DS ± 1.5），最长时间为 11 分钟，最短时间为 2 分钟。ABUS 的平均时间为 17 分钟（DS ± 3.8，最长时间为 31 分钟，最短时间为 9 分钟）。ABUS 技术在所有患者中都需要更长的时间，每位患者的平均差异为 11 分钟（范围 3-23 分钟），P<0.001。将 ABUS 的执行时间与阅读时间分开后，我们发现 ABUS 的执行时间比 HHUS 更长。此外，即使仅考虑检查的解释时间，我们也可以强调放射科医生使用 ABUS 所需的时间更长。
两种检查的执行和阅读时间存在显著差异，HHUS 方法更快且更耐受。
