Intraductal solitary papilloma: sonographic findings

The aim of the study was to define the ultrasonographic characteristics of intraductal solitary papilloma (ISP) and to discuss the differential diagnoses from other focal lesions of the breast. Sixteen ISP were found among 35 patients with haematic discharging breasts all of whom were submitted to sonography and cytology. The mean age of the patients was 28 years. Three types of lesions were observed: (1) a solid nodule with peripheral hypoechoic areas (56.2%); (2) papillary vegetation within a cystic cavity (25%); (3) periareolar dilated duct, filled with dense material (18.8%). The observed cases demonstrate that sonography was always reliable in detecting the lesion. This result is better than those reported in literature and may be correlated with the low mean age of the patients in our series, which allowed an optimal study with sonography. The three sonographic patterns observed seem to circumscribe the differential diagnoses, thus simplifying the diagnostic process.