Diagnostic value of mammography for accompanying non-mass enhancement on preoperative breast MRI.

BACKGROUND: Successful surgical treatment for localized breast cancer can depend on accurate diagnosis for accompanying non-mass enhancement (NME) on preoperative breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). PURPOSE: To evaluate the diagnostic value of mammography for accompanying NME adjacent to index cancer on preoperative breast MRI. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Among 569 consecutive patients who underwent preoperative breast MRI from January 2016 to August 2018 for ultrasound-guided biopsy-proven breast cancer, 471 patients who underwent initial mammography and subsequent surgery were finally included. Two radiologists retrospectively reviewed preoperative MRI findings of the 471 patients and detected accompanying NME adjacent to index cancer. MRI, mammography, and histopathology findings of the accompanying NME were evaluated using Pearson's chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test, and logistic regression analysis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of MRI and combined MRI and mammography was calculated in differentiating benign from malignant accompanying NME. The reference standard was surgical pathologic findings. RESULTS: MRI revealed 93 accompanying NME lesions in 92 (19.5%) of the 471 patients, showing 55 (59.1%) malignant and 38 (40.9%) benign lesions. On multivariate analysis, malignant NME lesions were more associated with mammography-positive findings (P = 0.000), clumped or clustered ring internal enhancement (P = 0.015), and extensive intraductal component presence of index tumor (P = 0.007) compared with benign lesions. The AUC increased after correlation with mammography showing 0.649 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.533-0.765) for MRI and 0.833 (95% CI 0.747-0.919) for combined MRI and mammography. CONCLUSION: Mammography is valuable in predicting malignancy for accompanying NME on preoperative breast MRI.

Accuracy of tumor size measurement on shear wave elastography (SWE): Correlation with histopathologic factors of invasive breast cancer.

The aim of this study is to investigate the accuracy of tumor size assessment by shear wave elastography (SWE) in invasive breast cancer and also evaluated histopathologic factors influencing the accuracy.A total of 102 lesions of 102 women with breast cancers of which the size was 3 cm or smaller were included and retrospectively analyzed. Tumor size on B-mode ultrasound (US) and SWE were recorded and compared with the pathologic tumor size. If tumor size measurements compared to pathological size were within ±3 mm, they were considered as accurate. The relationship between the accuracy and histopathologic characteristics were evaluated.The mean pathologic tumor size was 16.60 ±â€Š6.12 mm. Tumor sizes on SWE were significantly different from pathologic sizes (18.00 ±â€Š6.71 mm, P < 0.001). The accuracy of SWE (69.6%) was lower than that by B-mode US (74.5%). There was more size overestimation than underestimation (23.5% vs 6.9%) using SWE. Conversely, there was more size underestimation than overestimation (18.6% vs 6.9%) using B-mode US. The accuracy of SWE was associated with ER positivity (P = .004), PR positivity (P = .02), molecular subtype (P = .02), and histologic grade (P = .03). In the multivariate analysis, ER positivity (P = .002) and molecular subtype (P = .027) significantly influenced the accuracy of tumor size measurement by SWE.In conclusion, the accuracy of the tumor size measured with SWE was lower than that measured with B-mode US and SWE tends to overestimate the size. ER positivity and molecular subtype are significantly associated with the accuracy of SWE in tumor size assessment.

Asymptomatic systemic air embolism after CT-guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy.

PURPOSE: We presented details and incidence of systemic arterial embolism (SAE) following a CT-guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB) and evaluated risk factors for SAEs. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 1014 PTNBs performed in our hospital from 2005 to 2017. SAE was identified in the pulmonary vein, left heart, coronary artery, and aorta by reviewing post-biopsy CT images. Limited post-biopsy CT scans only covering the region biopsied were available until the first case of SAE was identified (n = 503). Then, the entire thorax was scanned for further examination of SAE (n = 511). Eighteen-gauge automatic cutting needles were used in all procedures. When SAE was evident on post-biopsy CT, subsequent brain CT was performed in order to confirm the cerebral SAE. RESULTS: Nine patients (0.89%) developed SAEs. In the univariate analyses, the location of the needle tip relative to the lesion (outside or inside of the lesion) as well as accompanying pulmonary hemorrhage were significant risk factors for SAEs (P = 0.021 and 0.036, respectively). Two patients developed neurological symptoms with cerebral SAEs, and one of these had sequelae. In seven asymptomatic SAEs with no cerebral SAE, four patients were retrospectively-diagnosed cases and three patients were detected on post-biopsy CT images. All seven of these patients had no sequelae. CONCLUSION: The incidence of SAE was higher than expected, due to radiologically detected asymptomatic SAEs. The location of the needle tip relative to the lesion and accompanying pulmonary hemorrhage were significant risk factors for the occurrence of SAEs. We proposed a guideline for treating asymptomatic SAEs.

Auditory brainstem responses to CE-Chirp® stimuli for normal ears and those with sensorineural hearing loss.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of the characteristic differences between click-and CE-Chirp-evoked auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) in normal hearing and sensorineural hearing loss. DESIGN: A prospective study. Ears with normal hearing and with sensorineural hearing loss were evaluated. Pure-tone audiometry and click-and CE-Chirp evoked ABRs exams were conducted for all ears. Visual detection levels, wave-V amplitudes, and latencies of the ABRs were assessed. STUDY SAMPLE: Twenty-two ears with normal hearing and 22 ears with sloping type sensorineural hearing loss were examined. RESULTS: In normal-hearing ears, mean amplitudes were larger for CE-chirps than for clicks at all intensities until 80 dB nHL, at which the amplitudes dropped off, presumably due to upward spread of excitation. In ears with sensorineural hearing loss, however the drop-off was less significant at 80 dB nHL. Comparisons with pure-tone audiometry findings revealed ABRs to CE-Chirps to correlate at 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 kHz, and to clicks at 1, 2, 3, and 4 kHz. CONCLUSIONS: The CE-Chirp has advantages over clicks for examining normal ears. However, under high-level stimulation, these advantages are no longer present. In ears with sensorineural hearing loss, the upward spread of excitation is less prominent. The CE-Chirps results correlate significantly to low frequency audiometric findings at 0.5 kHz, while clicks do not.