Department of Radiology, Catholic University Medical College.
Published online: January 1, 2001.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To describe the ultrasonographic (US) features of us fat necrosis of the breast. MATERIALS and METHODS: The authors retrospectively reviewed US findings of 12 patients (all females, mean age 54 years) with histopathologically (n=9) or clinically (n=3) proven fat necrosis of the breast. On US, size, depth/width (D/W) ratio, shape, margin, location, echogenicity and retrotumoral echo(enhancement/attenuation), pattern of the superficial fascia, and skin change were analyzed by two radiologists in agreement. RESULTS: On US, size of the lesion ranged between 0.9 and 4.0 cm in the greatest diameter (mean 2.2cm). The D/W ratio ranged between 0.4 and 0.7 (mean 0.55). The shapes of the lesions were oval in all cases. The margins of the lesions were ill-defined in 9 cases. All lesions were located in the subcutaneous fat layer and the echogenicity was hyperechoic in all cases. Nine patients showed inhomogeneous internal echogenicity. Five cases demonstrated posterior acoustic shadowing. In all cases, the lesions displaced the superficial fascia without disruption. Mild skin thickening was associated in 6 cases. CONCLUSION: Fat necrosis of the breast had characteristic US features of heterogeneously high echogenic mass in subcutaneous fat layer.