The relationship between the 99mTc-MIBI imaging characteristics and the histopathologic features of breast tumors

To evaluate the value of 99mTc-MIBI imaging in the detection of breast carcinomas and to assess the relationship between the histopathologic features of the lesions and their imaging characteristics, 84 female patients with palpable breast masses underwent 99mTc-MIBI breast scintigraphy. The early and delay images were acquired at 2∼4, 5, 60 and 120 min after injection of 740∼925 MBq 99mTc-MIBI intravenously. 37 of the 43 cases of breast carcinomas were detected by 99mTc-MIBI scintigraphy, meanwhile the histopathologic features of the lesions greatly influenced their imaging characteristics. The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity were 86.05% and 92.68%, respectively. 99mTc-MIBI breast scintigraphy is useful for differentiating malignancies from benign breast masses, but false negatives may occur in certain lesions with poor conditions of vascularity and cellularity