[Morphometry of breast tissue (author's transl)].

Abstract

In conventional tissue slides it is possible to describe quantitatively the dysplasia of the breast with the aid of the Quantimet 720 and the image editor equipment. From several slides of each breast the areas of epithelium, lumina and connective tissue were measured out of 5 to 20 lobuli. The data were transformed into a descriptive index according to the formula: (epithelium--lumen): connective tissue. In normal mammae the indices are clustered and lower than 100. In the cases of increasing dysplasia the indices are scattered and elevated. In glands with carcinoma the normal values disappear, but the scattering and rising of indices increase. With these findings it seems possible to identify dysplasia in a precancerous state by morphometrical analysis.