Breast masses in children : part 1

Abstract

Breast lesions in children and adolescents are managed differently from those in adults. Unlike in adults, the initial breast imaging study performed in pediatric patients is ultrasound, whereas mammography is reserved for selected cases. Advantages of ultrasound over mammography include lack of ionizing radiation in a susceptible population and greater sensitivity in the relatively dense fibroglandular tissue of young girls. Mammography has a role in the evaluation of microcalcifications and of suspicious discrete masses in older adolescents. Also biopsy and surgical intervention are more cautiously employed in children and adolescents due the low prevalence of breast cancer in this age group and the risk of injuring the developing breast.