COLOR DOPPLER SONOGRAPHY IN BREAST-TUMORS - COMPUTER-AIDED QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT

Purpose: Quantification of color Doppler findings in breast tumors using a computer-assisted image analysis. Methods: Color Doppler images are quantitatively characterized by the color pixel density and the flow velocities corresponding to the encoding colors (''color values''). The results in 44 patients with histologically proven breast carcinoma and 49 patients with benign lesions were compared with conventional duplex measurements. Results: With a scale maximum of 6 cm/s, the color pixel density was 4.8 +/- 3.7 % for carcinomas (mean +/- standard deviation) and 1.5 +/- 2.5 % for benign lesions (p < 0.0001). The mean color value was 2.8 +/- 0.6 cm/s for carcinomas and 1.1 +/- 0.8 cm/s for benign changes. Peak systolic flow velocity as determined with duplex Doppler was 23.1 +/- 10.3 cm/s in carcinomas and 16.7 +/- 8.3 cm/s in benign changes. With this scale maximum, the sensitivity for the diagnosis of breast cancer was 84 % with the mean color value, 59 % with the color pixel density, and 55 % with the peak systolic flow velocity. The specificity was 67 % with the mean color value, 88 % with the color pixel density, and 45 % with the peak systolic flow velocity. Pulsatility index and resistance index wore not significantly different in benign and malignant lesions. Conclusion: Computer assisted image analysis may be a helpful tool to quantify color Doppler information. It appears superior to conventional Duplex Doppler in differentiating carcinomas and benign lesions in the breast.