Comparative ultrasonic-histologic study in breast lesions detection.

The aim of this study is to establish whether a comparative morphologic-ultrasonic analysis is able to identify acoustical parameters for mammary lesions characterization. Breast specimens from radical mastectomy have been selected by frozen sections and then analyzed by nonconventional techniques based on ultrasonic attenuation measurements. After histologic examination of the fixed specimens, both ultrasonic and morphologic appearances have been compared. Our results suggest that the slope index is able to differentiate breast lesions on the basis of the amount of cells and collagen fibers they contain. The slope increases with increasing collagen fibers content while necrosis reduces the overall attenuation of the specimen. On the basis of the above results, it appears possible to differentiate both malignant breast tumors characterized by productive fibrosis and breast dysplasia. Malignant breast tumors without productive fibrosis cannot be distinguished from benign tumors.