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
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...
Article
Tubular carcinoma of the breast
Tubular carcinoma of the breast is a subtype of invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC).
Epidemiology
These account for ~1% of breast cancers. The peak age at presentation may be comparatively younger than with other types of breast cancer 7.
Associations
ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): can be an ...
Article
Classification of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
The new pathological classification of DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) is based on cytonuclear atypia, degree of necrosis, size, and distance from margin/architecture. Low and intermediate grades DCIS require cytologic, architectural and size criteria to be met but high-grade DCIS requires only ...
Article
Puerperal mastitis
Puerperal mastitis refers to mastitis occurring during pregnancy and lactation.
Epidemiology
It occurs most often during breast feeding and is rarely encountered during pregnancy.
Pathology
The source of infection is the nursing infant's nose and throat; the organisms being Staphylococcus au...
Article
Cavernous venous malformation
Cavernous venous malformation, also traditionally referred to as a cavernous hemangioma (despite it not being a tumor) or cavernomas, are non-neoplastic slow flow venous malformations found in many parts of the body.
Terminology
Despite the ubiquity of use of the traditional terms cavernoma, ...
Article
Gel bleed in breast implants
Gel bleed is a phenomenon associated with silicone breast implants.
Pathology
Gel bleed refers to the microscopic diffusion of silicone gel through the breast implant elastomer shell. The implant shell, made of silicone, is a semipermeable membrane that allows for the egress or bleed of silico...
Article
Invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast
Invasive lobular carcinoma is the most common special type of invasive breast cancer after invasive breast carcinoma of no special type (invasive ductal carcinoma not otherwise specified).
Epidemiology
They represent 5-10% of all breast cancer.
Associations
There is a greater rate of contral...
Article
Breast MRI
Breast MRI is the most sensitive method (>90%) for the detection of breast cancer. Its role in diagnosis and management continues to evolve 13.
Terminology
Dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI provides information about the morphology and function of a lesion with high sensitivity but moderate ...
Article
Granulomatous mastitis
Granulomatous mastitis is a very rare breast inflammatory disease of unknown origin that can clinically mimic breast cancer.
Clinical presentation
The condition generally manifests as a distinct, firm to hard mass that may involve any part of the breast. The subareolar regions may be relativel...
Article
Lymphatic drainage of the breast
Lymphatic drainage of breast originates from breast lobules and flows through intramammary nodes and channels into a subareolar plexus, called Sappey’s plexus. From this plexus, lymphatic drainage takes place through three main routes that parallel venous tributaries. Lymphatics from the left br...
Article
Myoepithelioma
Myoepitheliomas and malignant myoepitheliomas were considered a variant of pleomorphic adenomas until 1991. However, these are also found in the breast and bronchus and have gained recognition as separate entities 1.
Epidemiology
They account for <1% of salivary gland tumors, and only rarely u...
Article
Breast abscess
A breast abscess is a relatively rare but significant complication of mastitis that may occur during breastfeeding, particularly in primiparous women. The clinical context is a key to diagnosis as imaging appearances (particularly ultrasound) can mimic many other entities such as breast carcinom...
Article
Radiation-induced breast cancer
Radiation-induced breast cancers are a potential long-term complication of radiotherapy to the chest, in particular, in those patients receiving irradiation for breast cancer or Hodgkin lymphoma.
Besides breast cancer, sarcomas (breast angiosarcoma or osteosarcomas arising from the irradiated ...
Article
Radiation-induced breast changes
Radiation-induced breast changes are a consequence of radiotherapy toxicity over the breast tissues either related to targeted breast cancer treatment or other thoracic malignancies (eg. lung cancer).
Radiographic features
The radiation-induced breast changes may be seen in either dedicated b...
Article
Stereotactic breast biopsy
Stereotactic breast biopsy refers to percutaneous sampling of breast tissue using mammographic guidance for targeting.
Indications
It is the biopsy method of choice when the finding of interest is best seen on mammography, such as microcalcifications (most common), architectural distortion, or...
Article
Parenchymal patterns in breast imaging
Parenchymal patterns in breast imaging influence mammographic screening sensitivity and is related to the risk of breast cancer. This article describes the historical classifications of breast density. See the main article on breast density for the currently accepted BI-RADS descriptors.
Classi...
Article
Fibrocystic change (breast)
Fibrocystic change of the breast (also known as diffuse cystic mastopathy) is a benign alteration in the terminal ductal lobular unit of the breast with or without associated fibrosis. It is seen as a wide spectrum of altered morphology in the female breast from innocuous to those associated wit...
Article
Teardrop sign (intracapsular breast implant rupture)
The teardrop sign indicates an uncollapsed intracapsular breast implant rupture and is seen as a small focal invagination of the implant shell caused by a minimal concealed leak of droplets of silicone outside the shell where the two membranes contact each other. It is best appreciated by MRI.
...
Article
Balloon breast brachytherapy
Balloon breast brachytherapy (BBB) is a technique for delivering radiation treatment in women with early-stage breast cancer. It is given after lumpectomy, or surgical removal of a small breast neoplasm, and is a shorter alternative to the more traditional method of external beam radiation for s...
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