Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of enrolled patients.
| Benign Group | Malignant Group | p Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 | 45 | |||
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 0 | 0 | NA | |
| Female | 72 | 45 | NA | |
| Age (y) | 39.0 (32.0–46.0) | 43.0 (37.0–54.0) | 0.008 | |
| Tumor Size (mm) | 11.4 (8.9–15.9) | 17.6 (12.1–23.2) | 0.001 | |
| Shape | <0.001 | |||
| Regular | 31 | 0 | ||
| Irregular | 41 | 45 | ||
| DWR > 0.7 | 0.005 | |||
| Absent | 55 | 23 | ||
| Present | 17 | 22 | ||
| Margin | <0.001 | |||
| Circumscribed | 36 | 5 | ||
| Not circumscribed | 36 | 40 | ||
| Echo pattern | 0.021 | |||
| Hypoechoic | 46 | 29 | ||
| Isoechoic or hyperechoic | 18 | 4 | ||
| Heterogeneous | 8 | 12 | ||
| Microcalcification | <0.001 | |||
| Present | 18 | 26 | ||
| Absent | 54 | 19 | ||
| halo | ||||
| Present | 4 | 17 | <0.001 | |
| Absent | 68 | 28 | ||
| Posterior features | 0.007 | |||
| Enhancement | 22 | 16 | ||
| Shadowing | 7 | 11 | ||
| None | 42 | 14 | ||
| Combined pattern | 1 | 4 | ||
| AG | ||||
| Grade 0 | 10 | 1 | <0.001 | |
| Grade 1 | 32 | 5 | ||
| Grade 2 | 14 | 14 | ||
| Grade 3 | 16 | 25 | ||
| MVDP | ||||
| Non-vascular | 10 | 1 | <0.001 | |
| Linear or curvilinear | 31 | 3 | ||
| Tree-like | 25 | 0 | ||
| Root hair-like | 5 | 12 | ||
| Crab claw-like | 6 | 29 | ||
| Stiff rim sign | ||||
| Present | 6 | 34 | <0.001 | |
| Absent | 66 | 11 | ||
| E-max (kPa) | 38.2 (28.6–46.5) | 139.3 (92.3–205.1) | <0.001 | |
| E-max > cut-off (76.2) | ||||
| Yes | 7 | 36 | <0.001 | |
| No | 65 | 9 | ||
| E-mean (kPa) | 18.3 (13.7–22.8) | 40.8 (26.4–60.5) | <0.001 | |
| E-mean > cut-off (25.4) | ||||
| Yes | 10 | 35 | <0.001 | |
| No | 62 | 10 | ||
| E-min (kPa) | 3.6 (0.5–8.5) | 0.1 (0.1–0.9) | 0.944 | |
| E-min > cut-off (12.9) | ||||
| Yes | 3 | 4 | 0.295 | |
| No | 69 | 41 | ||
| E-sd (kPa) | 6.9 (5.2–8.3) | 27.2 (15.7–42.2) | <0.001 | |
| E-sd > cut-off (14.6) | ||||
| Yes | 7 | 34 | <0.001 | |
| No | 65 | 11 | ||
| E-ratio | 1.8 (1.4–3.3) | 7.2 (4.8–10.2) | <0.001 | |
| E-ratio > cut-off (5.3) | ||||
| Yes | 5 | 33 | <0.001 | |
| No | 67 | 12 | ||
Continuous variables that do not conform to the normal distribution were described by medians (inter-quartile range). AG: Adler Grade; DWR: depth-width ratio; MVDP: microvascular distribution pattern; E-max: Elasticity maximum; E-mean: Elasticity mean; E-min: Elasticity minimum; E-sd: Elasticity standard deviation; E-ratio: the stiffness ratio of the lesion compared to the surrounding adipose tissue calculated by placing two ROIs of 2 mm diameter at the same depth as that of the lesion.