A New Method for Differentiating Benign and Malignant Pleomorphic Clustered Calcifications in Mammography

Objective: Retrospective study to determine whether new mammography imaging characteristics can improve identification of an isolated cluster of coarse heterogeneous and fine pleomorphic calcifications as benign or malignant. Materials and Methods: Institutional review board approval and informed consent were obtained. The study included 123 women (mean age 50 years: age range 34―79 years in whom mammograms had found pleomorphic clustered calcifications but without abnormal ultrasound findings and who underwent stereotactically‑guided vaccum‑assisted breast biopsy. Pleomorphic clustered calcifications were classified on the basis of 5 characteristics density heterogeneity of density number heterogeneity of size and distribution area size (DAS of calcifications in the mediolateral oblique view (multiplication of the greatest length by the width of the total zone of clustered calcifications in mm