Reproducibility and diagnostic performance of shear wave elastography in evaluating breast solid mass

Abstract

Shear wave elastography (SWE) was performed independently by two radiologists in 264 solid breast masses. The images were reviewed for color overlay pattern (COP) classification by the two radiologists, double blinded to any information. The interobserver agreement of the COP was almost perfect (K = 0.908) and high in E-max (ICC = 0.89). The AUC value of the COP (0.954) was significantly higher than that of E-max (0.915) (p = 0.002) but not significantly different from that of E-max combined with COP (0.957) (p = 0.098). The SWE color overlay pattern and E-max of breast masses were highly reproducible. The COP had better diagnostic ability than E-max, suggesting that COP may be a more reliable parameter for solid breast mass evaluation. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.