To Determine the Diagnostic Accuracy of Strain Ultrasound Elastography in Differentiation between Benign and Malignant Breast Lesions, Taking Histopathology as Gold Standard

Diagnostic Accuracy of Strain Ultrasound Elastography in Breast Lesions

Abstract

Background: Advances in ultrasonography have led to the development of strain elastography, a novel imaging technique that assesses tissue stiffness, providing valuable diagnostic insights. Commercially available systems typically display tissue stiffness information as a color-coded map overlaid on real-time greyscale ultrasound images. Research has demonstrated the efficacy of strain elastography in detecting breast cancer. Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of strain ultrasound elastography in differentiation between benign and malignant breast lesions, taking histopathology as the gold standard. Study Design: Cross-sectional (validation) study. Settings: Radiology Department, Allied Hospital, Faisalabad Pakistan. Duration: 02-12-2018 to 01-06-2019. Methods: This study enrolled 132 patients, aged 20-60 years, with palpable breast lesions. Exclusion criteria included prior radiotherapy for breast cancer, pregnancy, and recurrent lumps. All patients underwent ultrasound elastography using a high-resolution linear array probe (7.5 MHz) followed by a biopsy. Histopathology results (benign or malignant) were compared with strain ultrasound elastography findings. Results: Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of strain ultrasound elastography in differentiation between benign and malignant breast lesions, taking histopathology as the gold standard was 91.02%, 83.33%, 88.75%, 86.54% and 87.88% respectively. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that strain ultrasound elastography is a highly sensitive and accurate diagnostic tool for identifying malignant breast lesions.