Superb Microvascular Imaging—A new vascular detecting ultrasonographic technique for avascular breast masses: A preliminary study

ObjectivesSuperb Microvascular Imaging (SMI) is a new vascular imaging technique detecting a slower velocity that color Doppler flow image (CDFI) cannot. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical value of SMI for detecting penetrating vessels (PVs) in avascular breast lesions.MethodsSeventy-nine patients with 82 breast lesions were examined by conventional ultrasound and diagnosed as Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) level 3 or 4. CDFI detected no PVs; subsequently, Power Doppler (PD), Advanced Dynamic Flow (ADF), and SMI were performed to detect any PVs in the breast lesions.ResultsCompared with PD or ADF, SMI revealed significantly (P < 0.01) higher median numbers of PVs in breast lesions. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.914 before the corrected classification versus 0.947 after the corrected classification (P < 0.05).ConclusionsSMI was helpful in the differential diagnosis of benign versus malignant in avascular breast lesions, especially those in BI-RADS category 4.