Does Shear Wave Elastography Score Over Strain Elastography in Breast Masses or Vice Versa?

Objective: This study was done to compare parameters of strain elastography (SE) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) for differentiation of benign and malignant breast masses and determine their best cut-offs.

Material And Methods: B mode ultrasound (USG), SE, and SWE were performed in 199 breast masses. During SE, 5-point visual elastography score (SE) and strain ratio (SE) were obtained. During SWE, mean and maximum elasticity values in kilopascals, and shear wave ratio were obtained in two orthogonal planes. The shear wave mean average (SWE), shear wave maximum average (SWE) and shear wave ratio average (SWE) were calculated by averaging the respective values in the two planes. The SE and SWE parameters of every mass were correlated with its histopathology.

Results: The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of SE, SE, SWE, SWE, and SWE were 0.815, 0.814, 0.846, 0.846, and 0.799, respectively.

Conclusions: The best cut-off values that achieved the highest sensitivity and specificity for SE, SWE, SWE, and SWE were 3.91, 113 kPa, 123.5 kPa, and 7.32, respectively. Quantitative parameter of SE showed comparable diagnostic performance with quantitative parameters of SWE.