Value of digital mammography in predicting lymphovascular invasion of breast cancer

Background Lymphovascular invasion (LVI) has never been revealed by preoperative scans. It is necessary to use digital mammography in predicting LVI in patients with breast cancer preoperatively. Methods Overall 122 cases of invasive ductal carcinoma diagnosed between May 2017 and September 2018 were enrolled and assigned into the LVI positive group ( n = 42) and the LVI negative group ( n = 80). Independent t-test and χ2 test were performed. Results Difference in Ki-67 between the two groups was statistically significant ( P = 0.012). Differences in interstitial edema ( P = 0.013) and skin thickening ( P = 0.000) were statistically significant between the two groups. Multiple factor analysis showed that there were three independent risk factors for LVI: interstitial edema (odds ratio [OR] = 12.610; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.061–149.922; P = 0.045), blurring of subcutaneous fat (OR = 0.081; 95% CI: 0.012–0.645; P = 0.017) and skin thickening (OR = 9.041; 95% CI: 2.553–32.022; P = 0.001). Conclusions Interstitial edema, blurring of subcutaneous fat, and skin thickening are independent risk factors for LVI. The specificity of LVI prediction is as high as 98.8% when the three are used together.