OBJECTIVETo determine the best shear wave elastography (SWE) quantitative parameters including the maximum elasticity (Emax), mean elasticity(Emean), minimum elasticity, standard deviation and ratio of Emean (Eratio) in assessing benign and malignant breast lesions.

METHODSTotally 302 breast lesions underwent conventional ultrasound and SWE. Each lesion was classified according to ultrasound Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS). The receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curves were used to determine the cut-off values of SWE quantitative parameters and to suggest breast lesions as benign or malignant. The sensitivity,specificity and the Youden index (sum of sensitivity and specificity minus 1) of SWE quantitative parameters were compared,and then the sensitivity,specificity and the Youden index of the combinations of each SWE parameters in assessing breast lesions were compared.

RESULTSThe sensitivity,specificity and the Youden index of the Emax were 0.87,0.97 and 0.84,which were higher than other SWE parameters (all P<0.01). The sensitivity, specificity and the Youden index of Emax combined with ultrasound BI-RADS were 0.86,0.97 and 0.83, which were higher than other combinations (all P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSCompared with other parameters, Emax has the best performance in assessing breast lesions. It can be used as an important quantitative indicator for the evaluation of benign and malignant breast lesions.