A modified triple test for palpable breast masses: the value of ultrasound and core needle biopsy.

Background: The original triple test score (TTS)--clinical examination, mammogram, and fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy--has long been used to evaluate palpable breast masses. We modified the original TTS to include ultrasound (US) and core biopsy to determine their role in evaluating palpable breast masses.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of 320 female patients was performed.

US of breast masses categorized as BI-RADS 3, 4, and 5: pictorial review of factors influencing clinical management.

The Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) lexicon for ultrasonography (US) is based on the established lexicon used successfully in mammography and attempts to provide a common language to avoid ambiguity in interpreting, reporting, and teaching breast US. Proper and consistent use of the BI-RADS US lexicon has numerous advantages, including facilitating (a) communication of final assessment categories that clearly indicate management recommendations, (b) data tracking for self-audits, and (c) clinical review of outcome summaries. However, the literature to date does not include sufficient data on outcomes to validate clinical use of the BI-RADS US lexicon.

Magnetic resonance imaging of intramedullary spinal cord lesions: a pictorial review.

Magnetic resonance imaging is the current imaging modality of choice in the evaluation of patients presenting with myelopathic symptoms in the search for spinal cord lesions. It is important for the radiologist to recognize and differentiate nonneoplastic from the neoplastic process of the spinal cord as the differentiation of the 2 entities is extremely crucial to the neurosurgeon. This article presents a broad spectrum of benign intramedullary spinal abnormalities including syrinx, contusion, abscess, infarction, myelitis, multiple sclerosis, sarcoid, cavernoma, and arteriovenous malformation.

Characterization of breast masses with sonography: can biopsy of some solid masses be deferred?

Objective: To determine whether sonography can be used to categorize some solid breast masses as probably benign so that biopsy can be deferred.

Methods: We prospectively characterized 844 sonographically visible solid breast masses referred for biopsy. Mammographic and sonographic features of the masses were recorded, and all masses were categorized by American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System classification before biopsy.

Polymorphisms in the gene encoding lipoprotein lipase in men with low HDL-C and coronary heart disease: the Veterans Affairs HDL Intervention Trial.

Our goal was to further define the role of LPL gene polymorphisms in coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. We determined the frequencies of three LPL polymorphisms (D9N, N291S, and S447X) in 899 men from the Veterans Affairs HDL Intervention Trial (VA-HIT), a study that examined the potential benefits of increasing HDL with gemfibrozil in men with established CHD and low high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C; < or =40 mg/dl), and compared them with those of men without CHD from the Framingham Offspring Study (FOS). In VA-HIT, genotype frequencies for LPL D9N, N291S, and S447X were 5.