Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to introduce an alternative pre-biopsy confirmation technique that combines sonography-guided intra-lesional contrast injections and single non-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) pulse sequence in order to identify sonographic correlates of incidentally detected breast MRI lesions which were occult on primary ultrasonography (USG) and mammography examination. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From May 2014 through May 2015, a total of 37 incidental breast lesions of 37 patients, which were detected by breast MRI, were evaluated with targeted second look ultrasound (SLUS). The suspected lesion on USG was marked with a gadolinium-based contrast agent under USG guidance. After a single non-enhanced T1 weighted control MR sequence, positively correlated lesions with initial MRI were sampled by USG guided core biopsy. RESULTS: Of the 37 lesions evaluated, 32 (86%) lesions showed a correlation between MRI and SLUS findings. On SLUS core biopsy, there were eight (25%) malignant and 11 (34.4%) high-risk lesions among these 32 cases with correlated MRI findings; while the remaining 13 (40.6%) cases had benign histopathology. Eleven (34.4%) of the SLUS-discovered lesions were focus, 11 (34.4%) were non-mass enhancements, and the remaining 10 (31.2%) were mass lesions. Of the five lesions (13.5%) that showed no correlations on MRI and SLUS examinations, four were non-mass enhancements and one was focus. CONCLUSION: SLUS represents a method for identifying MRI-detected lesions and provides a bridge to ultrasound-guided biopsy for histopathological diagnosis. There is a need for confirmation of biopsies to avoid false negative results. We describe a cheap, safe, and easy-to-apply USG-guided pre-biopsy lesions marking method in order to ensure definite correlation.