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Atlas of breast cancer early detection

Breast imaging – Breast ultrasound – Ultrasound lexicon – Special cases – Foreign body

  

A foreign body in the breast will be seen on ultrasound as a circumscribed space-occupying lesion, usually exhibiting posterior acoustic shadowing because the foreign body limits the transmission of sound waves through it.
If there is history of surgery, the foreign body may be seen in a specific location in the breast. For example, a chemoport will be seen in the premammary zone contralateral to the cancer and breast augmentation implants will be in the retromammary zone. Breast augmentation may involve bags containing autologous fat, polyacrylamide gel, or direct-injected silicone. Other medical devices seen as foreign bodies are cardiac pacemakers or ventriculoperitoneal shunts. Miscellaneous foreign bodies also include acupuncture needles or foreign materials that have migrated from cervicofacial or thoracic areas.

Chemoports













Pacemaker




Metallic surgical clips






















































  


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