Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Vol 15, Issue 12 807-812, Copyright © 1996 by American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
Assessment of factors affecting palpability of breast masses using ultrasonography in Chinese women
W. T. Yang and C. Metreweli
Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Organ Imaging, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong.
Five hundred and twenty-nine women with self-discovered or clinically
palpable breast lumps had physical examination followed by high-resolution
ultrasonographic examination of the breast. A total of 482 palpable and 146
nonpalpable masses were discovered by ultrasonography. The median values of
the breast stromal, premammary, and retromammary fat thickness measurements
were 1.3 cm, 0.1 cm, and 0.1 cm, respectively. The median depths of the
lesions and the distance of the lesions from the pectoralis muscle were 0.5
cm and 0.2 cm, respectively. The median size of all breast masses was 1.5
cm. These measurements (of the tissue characteristics of the breast,
location of the breast mass, and size of the breast lesion) were correlated
with palpability or nonpalpability of the breast lesions. Multivariate
logistic regression performed for all breast masses showed the only
significant factors affecting palpability to be the size (anteroposterior
and transverse diameters) and the depth of a breast mass. This is expressed
by the following equation: [formula: see text] where z = -0.8759 + 0.9691
(g) + 2.2770 (e)-1.5332 (d), and d represents depth of lesion from the
cutaneous surface and e and g represent anteroposterior and transverse
diameters of the breast mass, respectively. The nature of the breast tissue
(i.e., the premammary fat, retromammary fat, or breast stromal thickness as
determined by ultrasonography) does not affect palpability. This study
would therefore strongly support the recommendation of breast
self-examination, irrespective of breast structure.
