Palpable breast masses: evaluation by high frequency, hand-held real-time sonography and xeromammography. Work in progress.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic virtues and limitations of the combined use of high frequency, real-time ultrasound scanning (US) using hand-held transducers and xeromammography (XM) in the evaluation of palpable breast masses. Seventy-one patients, who ranged in age from 14 to 88 years and who had histologically proved masses, were examined by both imaging modalities. US demonstrated the highest degree of accuracy in establishing the presence of cysts (96%) and fibroadenomas (89%). XM afforded better overall depiction of the breast and correctly identified seven carcinomas, five of which were prospectively diagnosed by sonography. When all types of breast masses were considered, the combined use of XM and US was more accurate (89%) than when either XM (70%) or US (85%) was used alone. For this reason, a combined approach using both modalities in the examination of most patients with palpable breast masses is advocated. The advantages and limitations of both XM and US in the evaluation of palpable masses are discussed and illustrated.