Institution: UNIFESP
Departamento de Ginecologia, Disciplina de Mastologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo – UNIFESP, São Paulo, Brasil(b) Departamento de Patologia, UNIFESP, São Paulo, BrasilAbstractIntroduction: The removal of the skin overlying a tumour is often unnecessary and can compromise the aesthetic result of breast surgery. In the presence of a breast carcinoma, the distance between the lesion and skin is an important factor in the decision to remove or preserve the skin overlying the tumour. Objectives: To correlate the tumour-skin distance obtained in ultrasound and pathological examinations and to establish a relationship between these parameters. Methods: This was a prospective study conducted on 39 women presenting 41 breast tumours who were diagnosed with invasive cancer and were candidates for conservative or radical surgery. Distance measurements between the tumour and skin were performed using preoperative ultrasound examinations and an anatomopathological evaluation. Results: The mean distance between the tumour and skin obtained from the ultrasound examinations was 0.8 cm, with a minimum of 0.15 cm and a maximum of 2.43 cm. In the pathological examinations, the mean was 2.21 cm, with values ranging between 0.5 and 5.0 cm. The Pearson correlation between the methods was r = 0.75. Conclusion: The tumour-skin measurements observed during ultrasound examinations showed good correlation with those observed during histological evaluation. An increase of 1.0 cm in the ultrasound distance was equivalent to an increase of 1.89 cm in the pathological examination. Apparent changes to the breast resulting from the body position during the ultrasound examination may be a possible cause for the difference in values.
Keywords: Breast cancer; Skin; Ultrasound; Pathology”
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