Virtual touch tissue imaging and quantification: value in malignancy prediction for complex cystic and solid breast lesions

Background: Ultrasound elastography (UE) is a novel imaging method. The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of Virtual Touch tissue imaging in the evaluation of solid breast lesions. Patients and Methods: 209 breast solid lesions in 192 patients that had been evaluated using ultrasound (US) and UE were reviewed and analyzed. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for UE, US, and US plus UE in the differentiation of malignant from benign breast lesions were 80.8, 75.6, 77.9, 73.1, and 82.8% for UE, 87.2, 86.1, 86.6, 83.7, and 89.2% for US, and 92.5, 86.9, 89.5, 85.3, and 93.4% for US plus UE. There were significant differences between UE and US plus UE (all p < 0.05). Except for accuracy, there were no significant differences between UE and US or US and US plus UE (all p > 0.05). The area under the curve obtained from the ROC curve for UE, US, and US plus UE in differentiating malignant from benign lesions was 0.845, 0.884, and 0.922, respectively. Conclusion: The UE scoring system is not superior to BI-RADS in the sonographic evaluation of solid breast lesions. Combined use may improve the performance.

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The value of color-map virtual touch tissue imaging (CMV) in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast lesions

Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation ◽

10.3233/ch-201088 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Kai-Mei Lian ◽

Teng Lin

Keyword(s):

Work Experience ◽

Weighted Kappa ◽

Observer Agreement ◽

Tissue Imaging ◽

Breast Lesions ◽

Malignant Breast ◽

Sensitivity Specificity ◽

Accuracy And Repeatability ◽

Color Map ◽

Virtual Touch Tissue Imaging

BACKGROUND: Researchers have evaluated the VTI value in the diagnosis of breast lesions, mostly based on gray-scale. PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the value of color-map virtual touch tissue imaging (CMV) in the diagnosis of breast lesions. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the virtual touch tissue imaging (VTI) images of 55 breast lesions in 49 female patients who underwent an examination of breast lesions in our hospital from January 2019 to December 2019. The pathological results were taken as the gold standard. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of CMV was analyzed, and its diagnostic performance was evaluated. Weighted Kappa (k) statistics were used to assess the inter-observer agreement for CMV. RESULTS: A total of 55 breast lesions were included, including 19 malignant lesions and 36 benign lesions. Multivariate analysis showed that patients with higher CMV scores (P = 0.014, odds ratio [OR] = 13.667, 95% CI = 1.702–109.773) were independent predictors of breast cancer. The sensitivity, specificity, and the area under curve (AUC) of CMV were 94.47%, 72.22%, and 0.912. The CMV’s inter-observer agreement was almost perfect among radiologists with different work experience (k = 0.854, standard error = 0.049, 95% confidence interval = 0.758–0.950). CONCLUSIOS: CMV has high accuracy and repeatability in the diagnosis of malignant breast lesions.

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