Dawn McDonald
James Paget Hospital, UK
Title: The Toshiba Aplio 400 is a key component in a small local study investigating the potential suitability of elastography in differentiating between benign and malignant breast pathology, its objective to determine a numerical figure that may be significant in aiding the judgement call between benign and malignant lesions
Biography
Biography: Dawn McDonald
Abstract
Benign breast disease is common among women and when symptomatic, surgical management is the preferred option for both clinicians and patients alike (Lakoma and Eugene, 2014). Elastography is a relatively new tool, which still appears to be little utilised in breast imaging. Its use, when applied in the clinical setting, can differentiate between benign and malignant pathology, in particular focal lesions. But how useful is this? And if useful, is it possible to arrive at a numerical value which may determine whether a lesion is likely to be benign or not? A small local study undertaken over one year has suggested that elastography is indeed useful clinically, and that it is possible to arrive at a numerical value which can be significant in differentiating between benign and malignant lesions, as long as it is used in conjunction with other modalities such as mammography and ultrasound. Age is also key factor to be taken account of in the analysis.
Implementation of the technique outlined by this study could significantly reduce the numbers of benign breast biopsy undertaken, resulting in substantially lower financial costs for the medical services, and reducing the number of women suffering the anxiety of unnecessary procedures ultimately leading to benign outcomes