[Morphometry by analysis of microcalcifications and histopathological diagnosis: a new approach to the diagnosis of impalpable lesions of the breast detected by mammography]

Abstract

A series of 104 impalpable breast lesions detected by mammograms containing microcalcifications was studied. Intraoperative radiographs of intact and sliced specimens were assessed, followed by microscopic diagnostic on frozen sections of areas containing microcalcifications. Microcalcification detected on mammograms and on radiographs of the specimens were digitized and evaluated according morphometric parameters including the mean surface, shape factor, bend energy, the envelope surface and the total surface, the total number and the concentration of the microcalcifications. Benign disorders, atypical hyperplasia and carcinomas accounted for 47.2%, 4.8% and 48% of the tissue lesions respectively, but disorders were most often heterogeneous and mixed. Most but not all parameters were significantly correlated in the three types of radiographs, although radiographs of the sliced specimens provided for images of the best quality. Only two parameters, the mean size and the bend energy were significantly (p = 0.008, p. = 0.036) different in benign and malignant lesions. It is concluded that image analysis of digitized microcalcifications in radiographs may provide a quantitative basis helpful for mammograms interpretation.