Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Vol 13, Issue 1 33-36, Copyright © 1994 by American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
Breast sonography: technique to mimic mammographic position
J. Di Vito Jr and M. D. Rossmann
Department of Radiology, Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, New York 10457, USA.
Positional changes in the breast between supine sonography and mammography
may cause difficulties in correlating abnormalities. The problem is easily
surmounted by performing the breast sonogram with the patient in the
upright position. This study is a prospective evaluation of 10 patients
examined sonographically in the supine and upright positions. The nipple to
lesion distance was measured and the clock position estimated on the
upright and supine sonograms. These parameters were compared to the
original mammograms. In all patients the mammographic clock position and
the distances from the nipple correlated more closely with the upright
sonogram. The mammographic clock position was the same on the upright
sonogram in six of 10 (60%), and the remaining four (40%) varied from one
half to two clock positions. In supine sonography the clock position was
the same in two of 10 (20%) patients, and the remaining eight (80%) varied
from one to three clock positions. Most lesions were between 4.5 and 11 cm
from the nipple on the mammogram. The distances of the lesions from the
nipple ranged from 3 to 10 cm on upright sonography and from 0 to 4.5 cm on
supine sonography. The difference between clock positions and the distances
from the nipple on upright versus supine sonography were statistically
significant. Therefore, upright sonography is more accurate in localizing
mammographically identified lesions than the standard supine sonographic
technique.
