MDCT of the Breast

Anna Perrone, Luigi Lo Mele, Simona Sassi, Marina Marini, Lorenzo Testaverde, Luciano Izzo, and Mario Marini
AJR 2008;190:1644-1651

Link to Journal

The purpose of this study was to evaluate retrospectively the accuracy of low-dose MDCT in the differentiation of breast lesions suspected on mammography and sonography. Forty-seven of 61 patients underwent surgery, and the pathologic findings revealed 27 malignant and 20 benign lesions. With CT 25 of 27 malignant lesions and all 20 benign lesions were diagnosed correctly. CT had a sensitivity of 92.6%, specificity of 100%, positive predictive value of 100%, negative predictive value of 90.9%, and accuracy of 95.74%. The cutoff attenuation value, which had the best validity for differentiating malignant and benign lesions, was calculated to be 90 H on the 1-minute images.
Our results confirm and strengthen the importance of all imaging parameters and not one in particular. Dynamic MDCT can be used in the evaluation of selected patients with suspected breast tumors

Breast Stromal Enhancement on MRI Is Associated with Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

Jona Hattangadi, Catherine Park, James Rembert, Catherine Klifa, Jimmy Hwang, Jessica Gibbs, and Nola Hylton
AJR 2008;190:1630-1636

Link to journal

From my own group at UCSF - Breast stroma tissue outside the incident tumor can be quantified using signal enhancement ratio analysis on dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI. Stromal signal enhancement ratio is a potential indicator for response to treatment and for overall outcome in patients with breast cancer; however, these results should be validated in a prospective study.

Clinical Application of the BI-RADS Final Assessment to Breast Sonography in Conjunction with Mammography

Eun-Kyung Kim, Kyung Hee Ko, Ki Keun Oh, Jin Young Kwak, Jai Kyung You, Min Jung Kim, and Byoung-Woo Park
AJR 2008;190:1209-1215

Link to Journal

As with mammography, placing sonographic lesions into BI-RADS categories is useful for predicting the presence of malignancy

Accuracy of Short-Interval Follow-Up Mammograms by Patient and Radiologist Characteristics

Erin J. Aiello Bowles, Diana L. Miglioretti, Edward A. Sickles, Linn Abraham, Patricia A. Carney, Bonnie C. Yankaskas, and Joann G. Elmore
AJR 2008;190:1200-1208

Link to journal

Initial short-interval follow-up mammography examinations had a lower sensitivity for detecting breast cancer within 12 months than other diagnostic mammograms (61% for short-interval follow-up vs 80% for diagnostic mammograms reported in the literature). However, sensitivity within the 6-month interval that is usually recommended for subsequent follow-up was 83%. Accuracy of short-interval follow-up mammograms was influenced by few patient and radiologist characteristics.