Articles
Articles are a collaborative effort to provide a single canonical page on all topics relevant to the practice of radiology. As such, articles are written and continuously improved upon by countless contributing members. Our dedicated editors oversee each edit for accuracy and style. Find out more about articles.
28 results found
Article
Calcific axillary lymphadenopathy (differential)
Calcific axillary lymphadenopathy is in general, more concerning than axillary lymphadenopathy alone and is particularly so if it contains microcalcifications. While this is concerning for malignancy, it can also occur from occasional nonmalignant causes.
Pathology
Etiology
metastatic axillar...
Article
Medical devices in the thorax
Medical devices in the thorax are regularly observed by radiologists when reviewing radiographs and CT scans.
Extrathoracic devices
tubing, clamps, syringes, scissors, lying on or under the patient
rubber sheets, foam mattresses, clothing, hair braids, nipple piercings, etc., may also be visi...
Article
Leave alone lesions - breast
Breast leave alone lesions are so characteristic on mammography that further diagnostic tests such as a biopsy are unnecessary. All of these lesions are entirely benign and known as BI-RADS 2 findings:
lipoma: fat density; well-defined rounded lesion
oil cyst: fat density; well-defined lesion;...
Article
Milk of calcium within a breast cyst
Milk of calcium within a breast cyst is a mammographic feature observed when there is dependent calcium layering within breast cysts. It is typically observed as "tea cup" or "crescent shaped" calcifications on a true lateral (LM or ML) view or occasionally on a MLO view. On a CC view, these cal...
Article
Cutaneous calcifications in breast imaging
Cutaneous calcifications in breast imaging can form in dermal sweat glands after low grade folliculitis and inspissation of sebaceous material. Calcifications may also form in moles and other skin lesions. The vast majority of calcifications are coincidental findings on mammography.
Radiographi...
Article
Bilateral axillary lymphadenopathy (differential)
Bilateral axillary lymphadenopathy can result from a number of causes and generally implies a systemic process. They include:
autoimmune diseases, e.g.:
rheumatoid arthritis
scleroderma
dermatomyositis 5
systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
psoriasis
Sjögren syndrome
lymphoma
leukemia
di...
Article
Multicentric breast cancer
A multicentric breast cancer is a term given to a breast cancer where there are two or more breast cancers separated by normal breast tissue (often taken as 5 cm of separation 4). It is related to but distinct from the term multifocal breast cancer.
At a pathological level It can also mean 2
t...
Article
Breast calcifications
Breast calcifications are deposits of calcium salts in the breast, which are radio-opaque on mammography. The majority are benign, but they can be associated with cancer. The ability to diagnose and appropriately manage the significant microcalcifications and differentiate them from innocuous fi...
Article
Breast density
Breast density refers to the amount of fibroglandular tissue in a breast relative to fat. It can significantly vary between individuals and within individuals over a lifetime.
Classification
There are four descriptors for breast density on mammography in the 5th edition of BI-RADS 1,2:
a: the...
Article
Cystic breast mass
A cystic breast mass is a mass that contains both solid and fluid components. This can occur from both benign and malignant causes.
Benign
complex breast hematoma
complex breast abscess
breast cyst with associated inflammation and hemorrhage
galactocoele
fibrocystic changes and oil cysts 2...
Article
Amorphous calcifications (breast)
Amorphous calcifications, previously known as indistinct calcifications, are a morphological descriptor for breast calcifications that are small and/or hazy such that no clearly defined shape/form can be ascribed.
Pathology
Many benign and malignant conditions may be seen in association with ...
Article
Papillary lesions of the breast
Papillary lesions of the breast comprise a wide group and range from benign to malignant.
Pathology
They develop as tufts of epithelium with a fibrovascular core that arborizes into branching papillae and protrude into the duct lumen.
Benign
papilloma of breast / intraductal papilloma of the ...
Article
Multifocal breast cancer
Multifocal breast cancer refers to two or more individual breast cancers diagnosed at the same time within the same quadrant of the same breast 1.
There is however some heterogeneity in the way the term (as well as the term multicentric breast cancer) is used 4.
NB: When staging such breast c...
Article
Grouped calcifications
The term grouped calcifications is used in mammography when relatively few breast microcalcifications reside within a small area. There must be at least five calcifications present within 1 cm of each other 3. At the most, it may refer to a larger number of calcifications present within 2 cm of ...
Article
Well-defined breast cancers (differential)
Certain well-defined breast cancers tend to lack the characteristic spiculation and can give false reassurance of more benign entities on both ultrasound and mammography. These include:
certain high grade invasive ductal carcinomas: not enough time for a desmoplastic reaction to form spiculatio...
Article
Coarse macrocalcifications within the breast
Coarse macrocalcifications within the breast are a morphological descriptive term for a type of breast calcification.
Epidemiology
Associations
involuting fibroadenomas (classic popcorn calcification)
chronic renal disease with hypercalcemia 1
rarely seen in malignancy 2
invasive breast c...
Article
Skin thickening on mammography (differential)
The presence of skin thickening on mammography is variably defined, usually being more than 2 mm in thickness. It can result from a number of both benign and malignant causes. They include:
Malignant
inflammatory breast cancer: one of the most concerning causes of skin thickening: this usually...
Article
High risk breast lesion
The term high-risk breast lesion is given to a breast lesion that carries an increased risk for the future development of breast cancer or carries suspicion of a more sinister pathology around or in association with the lesion. The term has some overlap with borderline breast disease. Many radio...
Article
Gynecomastia
Gynecomastia refers to a benign excess of the male breast tissue, that is usually reversible. It is not a risk factor per se for developing male breast cancer.
Epidemiology
While it can occur at any age, it tends to have greater prevalence in two groups: adolescent boys and older men (some pub...
Article
Unilateral axillary lymphadenopathy (differential)
Unilateral axillary lymphadenopathy while being more concerning than bilateral axillary lymphadenopathy can still arise from a variety of benign, as well as malignant, causes.
Benign
mastitis
other regional infective causes
tuberculosis
ipsilateral arm infection, e.g. cellulitis
silicone i...
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