[Improving diagnosis of blood supply of breast tumors by echo-contrast media].

Doppler blood flow measurements allow differentiation of malignant lesions, that are characterised by an abnormal vascularity. The accuracy of this method is limited due to the physiological flow variation in normal breast parenchyma and in tumours. Magnetic resonance imaging in combination with contrast agents can also be used for flow assessment by measurement of the dynamic contrast enhancement. Recently, a new echo contrast agent (Levovist) has been developed, which survives pulmonary transit and increases the Doppler signal intensity after intravenous injection. Fourteen malignancies with low vascularity were selected for the study. Twenty-two seconds after injection of contrast agent, the Doppler signal intensity increased dramatically. This demonstrates, that echo contrast agents might improve the diagnosis of breast lesions in case of non-conclusive Doppler findings.