Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Debra Butler.
According to The Sunday Times Good Hospital Guide (2004), the Mater Hospital scored highest for waiting lists, admitting 84% of inpatients within six months of referral. To achieve this result the Trust was originally invited by commissioners to submit a bid to develop a service which ensures that patients currently waiting for elective surgery receive it as quickly as possible.
Diabetic mastopathy is uncommon but occurs in long-term insulin-dependent diabetic patients who develop hard palpable breast masses which mimic breast cancer and are occult mammographically. Ultrasound evaluation is useful to analyze the masses. There is a spectrum of ultrasound findings from marked acoustic shadowing to a vague hypoechoic area without shadowing. Ultrasound-guided core biopsy (CB) is recommended for a definitive diagnosis since fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) yields insufficient material for diagnosis secondary to extensive fibrosis. Four of the 11 patients in our series had FNAB, which was reported as insufficient material for diagnosis. However, 10 of 11 patients with diabetic mastopathy were successfully diagnosed by ultrasound-guided CB, helping to avoid an unnecessary surgical excisional biopsy.