Doppler flowmetry and the breast lump

Abstract

Ultrasonic Doppler Flowmetry can detect the abnormal blood flow in the tumor area due to the abnormal vascularisation and it can be detected by Doppler frequency shift and based on it one can identify the nature of lump. The flow pattern in benign tumors is different from that of malignant tumors. We studied 55 patients with breast lumps with the help of VASLAB Ultrasonic Doppler Machine using 8 MHz probe. The recordings were looked for the various parameters as Peak Systolic Frequency, diastolic flow frequency maximum envelop and pulsatility index. All the breast lumps underwent FNAC or excision for confirmation of the disease. Of 55 lumps, 18 had benign lumps while 37 were malignant. Of benign lumps 12 were fibroadenomas, 4 fibrocystic breast diseases and 2 Cystosarcoma phylloides while 37 malignant lumps were 31 infiltrating duct carcinoma, 5 lobular carcinoma and 1 Squamous cell carcinoma. The peak systolic flow was 2429.7±521.6 Hz in malignant lump vs. 1584.6±726.8 Hz in benign lumps (p<0.0001). The minimum diastolic flow was 885.7±862.2 in malignant lump vs. 574.3±314.9 in benign lumps (p<0.0001). DFT (maximum frequency envelop) was 104.07±32.04 in malignant vs. 66.07±28.9 in benign lumps (p<0.0001) while pulsatility index was 0.48±0.12 in malignant while it was 0.48±0.15 in benign (NS). The sensitivity and specificity of Doppler Flowmetry was 84.2% and 72.2% respectively. So with the help of Doppler Ultrasound Flowmetry, one can differentiate in majority of cases the benign lumps from malignant lumps.