Sonographic breast elastography: a primer

Abstract

Breast elastography is a new sonographic technique that provides additional characterization information on breast lesions over conventional sonography and mammography. This technique provides information on the strain or hardness of a lesion, similar to a clinical palpation examination. Two techniques are now available for clinical use: strain (compression-based elastography) and shear wave elastography. Initial evaluation of these techniques in clinical trials suggests that they may substantially improve the characterization of breast lesions as benign or malignant. This improvement may substantially reduce the number of benign biopsies performed. Elastography can be performed by several methods and is now available from several manufactures. This article reviews the basics of this technique, how to perform the examination, image interpretation, and artifacts. Although easy to perform, technique is critical to obtain adequate images for interpretation. This primer will highlight the technique and point out common pitfalls.