Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32210624›Full record

ArticleCancer management and research2020

The Vascular Index of Superb Microvascular Imaging Can Improve the Diagnostic Accuracy for Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System Category 4 Breast Lesions.

Si-Man Cai, Hong-Yan Wang, Xiao-Yan Zhang, Li Zhang, Qing-Li Zhu, Jian-Chu Li, Qiang Sun, Yu-Xin Jiang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cancer management and research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Comparative Evaluation of Superb Microvascular Imaging and Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Differentiating Benign and Malignant Breast Masses.Journal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Translating new breast ultrasound techniques into clinical practice: evaluating their intended uses and describing other unexpected uses for them.Translational breast cancer research : a journal focusing on translational research in breast cancer · 2023
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Si-Man CaiDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Chinese Academy Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, People's Republic of China.
Hong-Yan WangDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Chinese Academy Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, People's Republic of China.
Xiao-Yan ZhangDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Chinese Academy Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, People's Republic of China.
Li ZhangDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Chinese Academy Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, People's Republic of China.
Qing-Li ZhuDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Chinese Academy Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, People's Republic of China.
Jian-Chu LiDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Chinese Academy Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, People's Republic of China.
Qiang SunDepartment of Breast Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Chinese Academy Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, People's Republic of China.
Yu-Xin JiangDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Chinese Academy Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, People's Republic of China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo investigate whether the vascular index (VI) of superb microvascular imaging (SMI) could improve the diagnostic efficiency for BI-RADS 4 breast lesions and reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies. PATIENTS AND

methodsFor this study, we selected 222 consecutive BI-RADS 4 breast lesions detected by ultrasound and confirmed by pathology from January 2016 to October 2018. A VI of 4.0 was set as the cutoff value to degrade BI-RADS classification. We calculated the accuracy, sensitivity and PPV of a BI-RADS diagnosis alone and the combination of BI-RADS and the VI.

resultsPathologically, of the 222 lesions, 129 were confirmed to be benign, and 93 were found to be malignant. A VI of 4.0 was set as the cutoff value; when the VI≤4.0, those BI-RADS 4 masses were downgraded one level (4C-4B, 4B-4A, 4A-3) to an integral BI-RADS grade, while the others maintained the conventional grade. A total of 54 BI-RADS 4 lesions were degraded to BI-RADS 3, including 53 benign lesions and 1 malignant lesion. The diagnostic accuracy (65.3% vs 41.9%) and PPV (54.8% vs 41.9%) were significantly improved. The sensitivity decreased slightly (98.9% vs 100%) because 1 of the 54 downgraded BI-RADS 4 lesions, which had a pathological type of invasive ductal carcinoma, was incorrectly downgraded.

conclusionSMI is a noninvasive tool for visualizing the vascular structure with high-resolution microvascular images. As a quantitative index, the VI can be used to appropriately downgrade benign lesions classified as BI-RADS 4, which can improve the diagnostic accuracy and PPV and reduce unnecessary biopsies.

Indexed as

breast neoplasmsdiagnostic imagingsuperb microvascular imagingultrasonography

Identifiers

PMID32210624
PMCPMC7073432

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.