Breast Imaging

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Circumscribed masses with well-defined borders  Circumscribed masses with well-defined borders (>75% circumference): uncommon sign of malignancy;
only 2% of solitary masses with smooth margins are malignant.
Inverted teardrop • Inverted teardrop: nonspecific sign seen with extensive gel bleed or focal intracapsular rupture;
occurs when silicone enters radial fold and then leaks between internal and external capsules
linguini sign by MRI • Flaps (“linguini sign” by MRI) may represent intracapsular rupture.
Skin thickening (>3 mm)  Skin thickening (>3 mm) may be a sign of malignancy or benign conditions.

Types:
Focal: local tumor
Diffuse: sign of edema; may be due to inflammatory cancer
Spiculated tumor margin • Spiculated: a spiculated tumor margin is the only specific sign of malignancy; however, not all spiculated masses are cancers. Spiculated masses are the easiest masses to diagnose, although they may be obscured by fibroglandular tissue.
Spiculations are also seen in:
Scar tissue (usually resolves in 1 year if a surgical scar and in 3 years if a postradiation scar)
Desmoid tumors
Fat necrosis


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