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How reassuring is a normal breast ultrasound in assessment of a screen-detected mammographic abnormality? A review of interval cancers after assessment that included ultrasound evaluation
Clinical Radiology, 09/09/2011
Bennett ML et al. – Out of 34,533 women who attended for an assessment visit and the 46 women who subsequently developed an interval breast cancer, 15 were true interval cancers, 10 had a false–negative assessment outcome, and 21 had a delay to cancer diagnosis on the basis of a number of factors. When there is discrepancy between the imaging and histopathology results, a repeat biopsy rather than early follow–up would have avoided a delay in some cases. A normal ultrasound examination should not deter the radiologist from proceeding to stereotactic biopsy, if the index mammographic lesion is suspicious of malignancy.
