Mass measurements

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missarmy04
missarmy04 Member Posts: 28
edited September 2015 in Waiting for Test Results

I feel like all my brain cells are being destroyed from worry. So this may be a really silly question, but please humor me. When reading the measurement of your mass, which comes first, height? Depth? Or width? How do you know if it's "taller than wide?" How can they measure accurately if it's "ill defined and not circumscribed?" Doesn't that mean they can see the margins

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  • BarredOwl
    BarredOwl Member Posts: 2,433
    edited January 2016

    Hi:

    I know it feels like that. I don't think they are actually being destroyed, but they are definitely being fired on all cylinders. The fear and worry of the unknown can be overwhelming. I had serious difficulties focusing and thinking clearly during the diagnostic phases.

    From other threads, it sounds like you have had a diagnostic mammogram, an ultrasound, and are awaiting a biopsy to be done on 9/15. Is that correct?

    One thing to keep in mind, is that until surgery, the size of a biopsied and malignant lesion is not really finalized. Imaging can give a general, but not a super precise guide about size.

    [Edited to correct error: According to information from the ACR, in ultrasound, the margins or outer border of a mass are described as either (a) circumscribed or (b) not circumscribed. If not circumscribed, they can be further specified as indistinct, angular, microlobulated or spiculated.]

    Hope others who had an ultrasound can advise you regarding this question:

    When reading the measurement of your mass, which comes first, height? Depth? Or width? How do you know if it's "taller than wide?"

    Is there any reference to a clock face or caliper measurements in your report? Any reference to a long axis running in a particular direction (e.g., medial to lateral)?

    BarredOwl



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  • missarmy04
    missarmy04 Member Posts: 28
    edited September 2015

    CLINICAL INFORMATION: 24-year-old female with palpable lump within the left breast. Mother with history of breast carcinoma at age 38. COMPARISON: None. TECHNIQUE: Bilateral breast digital CC, MLO and XCCL views. Computer assisted detection software was also used. BREAST COMPOSITION: The breasts are heterogeneously dense, which may obscure small masses. FINDINGS: Right breast: No suspicious microcalcifications, skin thickening, architectural distortion or masses. No suspicious axillary lymph nodes. Typically benign breast calcifications. Left breast: There is a palpable skin marker within the upper outer breast. On the MLO view there is an asymmetry projecting deep to the palpable skin marker and is located within the upper breast posterior depth, approximately 7 cm from the nipple marker. No suspicious calcification, skin thickening or architectural distortion. Targeted ultrasound of the left breast in the region indicated by the patient (palpable lump) at 1:00 axis approximately 2 cm from the nipple there is a 1.1 x 0.4 x 0.6 cm irregular parallel not circumscribed hypoechoic mass with no increased vascularity on color Doppler flow. There is shadowing at the edges of the mass. ASSESSMENT: Hypoechoic irregular mass within the left upper outer breast which is suspicious for malignancy. ACR BI-RADS CATEGORY 4: SUSPICIOUS

    Those are straight from the mammogram report

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  • BarredOwl
    BarredOwl Member Posts: 2,433
    edited September 2015

    Hi missarmy04:

    I just edited my post above (which was wrong) to include include the terms used to describe the "margins" of a mass when assessed by ultrasound. Specifically, according to information from the ACR, in ultrasound, the margins or outer border of a mass are described as either (a) "circumscribed" or (b) "not circumscribed." If "not circumscribed", they can be further specified as indistinct, angular, microlobulated or spiculated.

    With regard to orientation, I found information that the "orientation" of a mass can be described as "parallel" or "not parallel". If one were an ultrasound specialist, the findings in your report of a "parallel" orientation and 1:00 axis (a possible clock reference) probably contain the answer to your question about the orientation of the longer 1.1 cm dimension.

    It is probably best to discuss the implications of the ultrasound findings and any questions you may have about them in your upcoming meeting with the surgeon. Remember to take a copy of your report with you, and write down your questions in advance so you don't forget to ask them.

    Hoping for a benign result for you.

    BarredOwl

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  • missarmy04
    missarmy04 Member Posts: 28
    edited September 2015

    thank you

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