2008 Volume 35 Issue 6 Pages 681-687
Purpose: To compare the prominence of echogenic spots with the surrounding hisopathologic findings in breast cancer demonstrating only small round or amorphous microcalcifications on mammography. Subjects and methods: Ultrasonographic findings were investigated in 14 cases of non-invasive ductal carcinoma, with or without minimal invasion, in which small round or amorphous microcalcifications were noted on preoperative mammography. The obviousness of the echogenic spots was classified into three degrees; the histologic subtypes were divided into the comedo type and non-comedo type; and the diameters of the calcifications, degree of ductal dilatation, density of the ducts, and cellularity in the ducts were grouped into three grades. Results: Echogenic spots were demonstrated in 7 of the 8 cases with comedo type lesions, but were not detected in 5 of the 6 cases with only non-comedo lesions. The former demonstrated significantly more obvious echogenic spots than the latter (P=0.007). Histopathologic study of the surrounding tissue revealed that, larger diameter of calcification (P=0.02), greater ductal dilation (P=0.003), and higher duct density (P=0.01) correlated significantly with prominence of echogenic spots; however, no correlation was found between cellularity in the ducts and prominence of the echogenic spots (P=0.58). Conclusion: The histopathologic findings showed that echogenic spots were clearly imaged in cases with comedo-type lesions. In the surrounding tissue, larger diameter of calcification, more dilated ducts, and higher duct density was associated with more prominent echogenic spots.
