BIRADS III
BI-RADS 3 is an intermediate category in the breast imaging reporting and data system. A finding placed in this category is considered probably benign, with a risk of malignancy between 0% and 2%.
Terminology
BI-RADS 3 should not be utilized in the screening setting. It should be reserved for the diagnostic setting, such as when patients are recalled from screening for additional views (ie, following BI-RADS 0) or when patients present with a palpable lump.
Radiographic features
Mammography
The BI-RADS Atlas, fifth edition, contains three mammographic findings that should be categorized as BI-RADS 3 :
- grouped round calcifications
- circumscribed, round or oval mass without calcification
- focal asymmetry without calcification or architectural distortion
Ultrasound
The following sonographic findings may be categorized as BI-RADS 3 :
- complicated cyst with uniform low-level echoes
- microlobulated or oval mass composed of clustered microcysts (although BI-RADS 2 may be appropriate if the appearance is classic )
- hypoechoic mass, circumscribed, oval, parallel, without posterior features or with minimal posterior enhancement
- hyperechoic mass with central hypoechoic to anechoic components and surrounding edema consistent with, but not diagnostic of, fat necrosis
- refraction shadowing without an associated mass
- architectural distortion thought to be due to postsurgical scar
Radiology report
BI-RADS 3 carries a management recommendation of short-term follow-up. The recommendation should be for the modality or modalities that best demonstrated the initial finding. While follow-up protocols differ across practices, a common schedule is at 6, 12, and 24 months. Once stability is documented for at least two, and at most three, years, the finding can be downgraded to BI-RADS 2 (benign). If the finding develops suspicious features, such as growth, non-circumscribed margins, or suspicious calcification morphology, then it should be upgraded to BI-RADS 4 or 5.