Analysis of sonographic features of nodular fasciitis of the breast

DONG Jinye; GUO Yanjie; LUAN Yanyan; YU Yanni

doi:10.20258/j.cnki.1006-9011.2025.02.015

Abstract：Objective To investigate the ultrasonographic features of nodular fascitis of the breast(BNF)so as to improve the diagnostic accuracy.Methods The preoperative clinical data and ultrasonographic features of 10 patients with BNF con-firmed by pathology were retrospectively analyzed.The ultrasonographic feature evaluation included the location,size,shape,boundary,internal echo,orientation,hyperechoic halo,posterior echo,fascial tail sign,calcification,and blood flow.Re-sults All nodules were single.The maximum diameter of the nodule ranged from 1.2 to 3.2 cm,with an average of(1.9±0.6)cm.One case was located in the superficial fascia layer,seven cases were located in the superficial side of mammary gland adja-cent to the superficial fascia,and two cases were located in the deep side of mammary gland adjacent to the deep fascia,closely related to the pectoralis major muscle.Eight cases had blurred boundary and two cases had clear boundary.Eight cases had ir-regular morphology and two cases had regular morphology.Seven cases were inhomogeneous hypoechogenicity and three cases were homogeneous.Seven cases grew horizontally and three cases grew perpendicularly.Five cases had enhanced posterior echo.Six cases had hyperechoic halo.Four cases had fascial tail sign.All 10 nodules had no calcification.Adler blood flow was grade 0 in four patients and grade I in six patients.Conclusion The ultrasonographic images of BNF are nonspecific,mostly showing inhomogeneous echo,blurred boundary,irregular shape,hyperechoic halo,enhanced posterior echo,fascial tail sign,and lack of internal blood flow signals.BNF should be considered in young and middle-aged female patients with a rapidly growing nodule in the superficial fascia layer or the superficial side of mammary gland near the superficial fascia with one of the above ultrasound features,but definitive diagnosis still requires histopathological examination results.