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.
359 results found
Article
Abscess
Abscesses are focal confined collections of suppurative inflammatory material and can be thought of as having three components 1:
a central core consisting of necrotic inflammatory cells and local tissue
peripheral halo of viable neutrophils
surrounded by a 'capsule' with dilated blood vessel...
Article
Artifacts that mimic breast calcification
Artifacts that mimic breast calcification can arise from a number of external sources of radiopaque material that leave particulate residue on or within the skin. These include:
deodorants/antiperspirants, particularly solid applicator products 1
powders, such as those containing talc 2...
Article
Pectoralis major muscle
The pectoralis major muscle is a large fan-shaped muscle of the pectoral region, overlying the anterior chest wall but often considered an upper limb muscle due to its function.
Summary
origin: medial clavicle, sternum, costal cartilages, and external oblique aponeurosis
insertion: bicipital...
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
Galactocele
Galactoceles, also referred to as lactoceles, are the most common benign breast lesion typically occurring in young lactating women; however, they mostly happen on cessation of lactation 1.
Clinical presentation
Patients usually present with a painless breast lump occurring over weeks to mont...
Article
Fat necrosis (breast)
Fat necrosis within the breast is a pathological process that occurs when there is saponification of local fat. It is a benign inflammatory process and is becoming increasingly common with the greater use of breast-conserving surgery and mammoplasty procedures.
Epidemiology
Most at risk are mi...
Article
Gigantomastia
Gigantomastia (also known as macromastia or mammomegaly) is the term employed when there is massive breast enlargement. It is often associated with pregnancy. It may be rarely unilateral.
Gigantomastia is a very common condition characterized by proliferation of either breast fatty tissue or gl...
Article
Tattoo sign (mammogram)
The tattoo sign is a feature given to describe dermal calcifications seen on mammography 1. The basis of this sign is that dermal calcifications maintain fixed relationships to one another that are reproducible with similar projections at different times. This is in contrast to intramammary calc...
Article
Breast tissue markers
Breast tissue markers are a common finding in breast radiology. These are typically inserted following percutaneous biopsy, either under ultrasound or sterotactic guidance. They can be invaluable in identifying known benign areas or shrinking/treated malignant lesions on follow up imaging.
A nu...
Article
Breast within a breast sign
The breast within a breast sign refers to the common mammographic appearance of breast hamartomas (fibroadenolipomas). Since these benign lesions are well-circumscribed and contain a mixture of fibrous, glandular and fatty tissue (just like normal breast), it is not surprising that they appear v...
Article
Breast imaging-reporting and data system (BI-RADS) assessment category 4
A BI-RADS 4 lesion under the breast imaging-reporting and data system refers to a suspicious abnormality. BI-RADS 4 lesions may not have the characteristic morphology of breast cancer but have a definite probability of being malignant. A biopsy is recommended for these lesions. If possible, the ...
Article
Sternalis muscle
The sternalis muscle (TA: musculus sternalis 8), also known as rectus sternalis or parasternalis 7, is an uncommon chest wall accessory muscle and is of uncertain etiology and function. Its importance lies in that it should not be mistaken for a pathological lesion.
Epidemiology
Cadaveric stu...
Article
Fat containing breast lesions
Fat containing breast lesions generally have some radiolucent component on mammography.
Pathology
They are generally classified at BIRADS II lesions.
Common
breast lipoma
breast hamartoma
fat necrosis within the breast/oil cyst
intramammary lymph node: classically has a cen...
Article
Terminal duct lobular unit
Each lobe of the breast is drained by a collecting duct terminating in the nipple. The collecting duct drains several side branches, each arising from a terminal duct lobular unit (TDLU), the basic functional and histopathological unit of the breast. The terminal duct lobular unit is composed of...
Article
K-absorption edge
The K-absorption edge (K-edge) refers to the abrupt increase in the photoelectric absorption of x-ray photons observed at an energy level just beyond the binding energy of the k-shell electrons of the absorbing atom.
K-shell binding energies are specific to each element. As the atomic number (Z...
Article
Breast
The breast is an apocrine gland found in both males and females. However, in females, it has a specific function - the production of milk for neonatal nutrition and immune function.
Gross anatomy
The breast has an inhomogeneous structure that is predominantly composed of adipose tissue and gla...
Article
Triple receptor negative breast cancer
Triple receptor-negative (TRN) breast cancer or triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer characterized by a relative absence of immunohistochemical staining for the following hormone receptors/protein:
estrogen receptor (OR)
progesterone receptor (PR)
human ep...
Article
Breast imaging-reporting and data system (BI-RADS) assessment category 3
BI-RADS 3 is an intermediate category in the breast imaging reporting and data system. A finding placed in this category is considered probably benign, with a risk of malignancy of > 0% and ≤ 2%4.
Terminology
BI-RADS 3 should not be utilized in the screening setting. It should be reserved for ...
Article
Metaplastic breast carcinoma
Metaplastic breast carcinoma, also known as spindle cell carcinoma of the breast, is a rare form of primary breast malignancy and accounts for <5% of breast carcinomas ref.
These are scarce lesions, rarely seen in general radiology practice. The lesions usually present as a mass in postmenopaus...
Article
Metaplasia
Metaplasia is a general pathology term that refers to the process when one cell type is replaced by another. It usually occurs in the context of a changed cellular environment to which the new cell type is better adapted 1.
Examples include 2-5:
Barrett esophagus: normal squamous epithelium re...
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