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Sonographic Follow-Up May Be Adequate for Teen Breast Masses

All masses that underwent biopsy were benign on histopathologic analysis

THURSDAY, April 2, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Sonographically benign-appearing solid breast masses in adolescents may undergo sonographic follow-up based on combined criteria of size and volume change per month, according to a study published in the April 1 issue of the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Anugayathri Jawahar, D.N.B., from the Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill., and colleagues conducted a retrospective study involving 37 teenage female patients with 45 palpable benign-appearing solid breast masses on initial sonography. Participants were categorized as: group I, nine patients with masses undergoing follow-up sonography with subsequent biopsy; group II, 13 patients with masses undergoing biopsy without follow-up sonography; and group III, 23 patients with masses undergoing follow-up sonography without biopsy.

The researchers observed no changes in sonographic appearance in masses that underwent follow-up sonography. On histopathologic analysis, all masses that underwent biopsy were benign. At initial sonography, there was no significant difference in the largest dimension among the groups; no significant difference was seen between groups I and III at follow-up sonography. Pathologic outcomes were not predicted by size greater than 3 cm or volume change greater than 16 percent.

“If the combined criteria for assessing benignity of palpable breast masses had been used, biopsy could have been reduced by 89 percent in group I and deemed not necessary in 96 percent of group III breast masses,” the authors write.

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