Usefulness of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for intracystic breast tumors: a report of three cases.

Cystic breast lesions are caused by a wide spectrum of breast diseases and can range from simple cysts to malignant tumors. Ultrasonography is a good tool for evaluation of the morphology and vascularity of cystic breast lesions. We report three patients in whom contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) was used to evaluate intracystic tumors. One of the three patients was diagnosed with intracystic papilloma. Compared with conventional ultrasonography alone, CEUS more clearly demonstrated that the solid component within the mass was lobulated with a narrow base. The other two patients were diagnosed with intracystic papillary carcinoma, and CEUS clearly revealed the presence of widely elevated solid components within both masses, suggesting malignancy. Therefore, CEUS simplified morphological evaluation by enhancing the solid components within the cystic masses.