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| To explore the influence of depth and size of breast lesion on the quality of elastography images |
| GUO Song, LI Jing, WANG Xue-jiao |
| Department of Ultrasound, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China |
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Abstract Objective: To explore the influence of breast lesion depth, lesion size, adipose thickness, and breast thickness on the quality of compression elastography images obtained from women in northeast China. Methods: Ultrasonic elastography was conducted on 326 breast lesions in 272 women. The quality of the images was evaluated according to the criteria for satisfactory and unsatisfactory elastograms. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between measured factors and the quality of the elastography images. Results: Among the 326 breast lesions, satisfactory images were obtained in 300(92%); 26(8%) were unsatisfactory. Univariate analysis revealed that the averages of the lesion depth, adispose thickness anterior to the lesion, and breast thickness at the lesion location in the unsatisfactory group were significantly higher than those of the satisfactory group(P＜0.05). There were 62 lesions with their deep edge located 2.1 cm to 2.5 cm below the skin and 66 lesions with their superficial edge located 1.6 cm to 2.3 cm below the skin; furthermore, the lesions in the unsatisfactory group were larger than those of the satisfactory group(P＜0.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that the distance from the superficial edge of the lesions to the skin(OR: 8.999, P=0.012) and breast thickness at the lesion location(OR: 38.669; P=0.000) were the independent risk factors. Conclusion: Compression elastography is suitable for evaluating breast lesions in women from northeast China. Images were less likely to be satisfactory if they were deep or located in areas of greater breast thickness. Satisfactory images were more likely to be obtained if the deeper lesions were larger. Furthermore, breast thickness at the lesion location was a more important factor than lesion depth for obtaining a high quality elastography image.
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Received: 02 August 2013
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2014, Vol. 25 
