Pathological and mammographic findings of microcalcification in calcified breast carcinoma without a mass

OBJECTIVE: To explore the correlation between pathological findings and mammographic features of microcalcification in calcified breast carcinoma without a mass. METHODS: The morphology and distribution of the microcalcification lesions displayed by mammography were retrospectively analyzed in 108 cases of the calcified breast carcinoma without a mass in comparison with the pathological findings of the lesions. RESULTS: The mammographic morphology or distribution of the microcalcification lesions did not differ significantly across different pathological types of calcified breast carcinoma without a mass (P>0.05). The microcalcification lesions showed no significant morphological difference between invasive and noninvasive breast carcinomas (P>0.05). Fine pleomorphic calcifications were frequently found in both invasive and noninvasive breast carcinomas, but fine linear and fine linear branching calcifications and mixed malignant calcifications were more common in invasive breast carcinoma. The distribution of the microcalcifications showed significantly different patterns between invasive and noninvasive breast carcinoma (P=0.006), characterized by segmental and cluttered distributions of the lesions, respectively. CONCLUSION: There is no specific mammographic features in correlation with the pathological types of microcalcification lesions in calcified breast carcinoma without a mass, but invasive and noninvasive calcified breast carcinomas have different mammographic features in the morphology and distribution of the microcalcifications to allow their preoperative differentiation.