RadteraWhole-Breast Screening Ultrasound
USNo contrastBreast
Indications
- Supplemental screening in women with dense breasts (heterogeneously/extremely dense, BI-RADS c/d)
- Intermediate-risk women for whom MRI is not indicated or not tolerated
- Adjunct to mammography to improve cancer detection in dense tissue
Patient prep
- No special prep
- Recent screening mammogram for correlation
- May be performed handheld (HHUS) or with automated breast ultrasound (ABUS)
Contrast
None / non-contrast
Technique
- Systematic survey of the entire breast in overlapping sweeps (radial/antiradial or transverse/longitudinal)
- High-frequency linear transducer; ABUS uses a wide automated transducer with reconstructed coronal planes
- Document any detected lesion with measurements, location, and orthogonal images
- Include retroareolar region and axillary tail
Series / Sequences
| # | Series / Sequence | Plane | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whole-breast survey (each breast) | Radial/antiradial or grid sweeps | Complete coverage including subareolar and axillary tail |
| 2 | ABUS coronal reconstructions | Coronal | If automated system; review retraction/architecture |
| 3 | Targeted documentation of any lesion | Orthogonal | Characterize and assign BI-RADS |
Key points
- Adds incremental cancers in dense breasts but increases false positives/recalls and benign biopsies
- Supplements, does not replace, mammography
- ABUS provides reproducible coronal imaging; HHUS is operator dependent
- Findings reported with US BI-RADS; suspicious lesions to US-guided biopsy
References
• ACR Practice Parameter for the Performance of a Breast Ultrasound Examination
• ACR Appropriateness Criteria: Breast Cancer Screening (supplemental US in dense breasts)
• ACR BI-RADS Atlas, 5th ed. (Ultrasound)
• Radiopaedia: Breast ultrasound ( link
• ACR Appropriateness Criteria: Breast Cancer Screening (supplemental US in dense breasts)
• ACR BI-RADS Atlas, 5th ed. (Ultrasound)
• Radiopaedia: Breast ultrasound ( link
Source: Researched — verify against your institution
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Reference template — verify and adapt to your scanner, vendor and institution before clinical use. Not a substitute for clinical judgment.