Non-mass Breast Lesions: Could Multimodal Ultrasound Imaging Be Helpful for Their Diagnosis?

Objective: To develop a prediction model for discriminating malignant from benign breast non-mass-like lesions (NMLs) using conventional ultrasound (US), strain elastography (SE) of US elastography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). Methods: A total of 101 NMLs from 100 patients detected by conventional US were enrolled in this retrospective study. The characteristics of NMLs in conventional US, SE and CEUS were compared between malignant and benign NMLs. Histopathological results were used as the reference standard. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the independent risk factors. A multimodal method to evaluate NMLs based on logistic regression was developed. The diagnostic performance of conventional US, US + SE, US + CEUS and the combination of these modalities was evaluated and compared. Results: Among the 101 lesions, 50 (49.5%) were benign and 51 (50.5%) were malignant. Age >= 45 y, microcalcifications in the lesion, elasticity score >3, earlier enhancement time and hyper-enhancement were independent diagnostic indicators included to establish the multimodal prediction method. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of US + SE + CEUS was significantly higher than that of US (p < 0.0001) and US + SE (p < 0.0001), but there was no significant difference between the AUC of US + SE + CEUS and the AUC of US + CEUS (p = 0.216). Conclusion: US + SE + CEUS and US + CEUS could significantly improve the diagnostic efficiency and accuracy of conventional US in the diagnosis of NMLs.