Mammography

With all the doom and gloom surrounding mammography-lower reimbursement, high threat of malpractice lawsuits-it's easy to assume residents would shy away from the field.

Radiation in any form brings risk. Medical radiation as a screening, diagnostic or treatment tool is designed with safeguards in mind to minimize the risk and maximize the benefit of the test or treatment. For instance, if a patient presents with a breast lump that can be felt but not viewed with mammography or ultrasound, medical professionals must employ the most appropriate diagnostic tools that identify potential cancer.

Some nuclear-based breast imaging exams may increase a woman’s risk of developing radiation-induced cancer, according to a special report appearing online and in the October issue of Radiology. However, the radiation dose and risk from mammography are very low.

Radiologists too often are either unwilling or unable to interpret screening mammography exams, so breast surgeons should learn the specialty and fill in when needed, an international speaker told a group of breast surgeons recently.

MRI detects breast cancer in the contralateral breast for postmenopausal women better than a clinical or mammographic examination, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in the March/April The Breast Journal.

Data continue to accumulate showing that screening mammography rates are declining in the U.S. A survey recently conducted for Diagnostic Imaging by The MarkeTech Group found nearly half (47%) of hospital-based administrators surveyed said there is a decrease in the number of women receiving mammograms at their facility compared to 2009.

Women exposed to radiation therapy for Hodgkin’s disease have a relative risk 7.7 times greater than the general population of developing breast cancer, according to a study presented at the European Congress of Radiology in Vienna, in March.

A new study questioning the efficacy of screening mammography has stirred up an international debate with researchers from around the world challenging its scientific validity.

I very much appreciate Dr. Caruncho’s thoughtful and detailed response to my article in Diagnostic Imaging. It is ironic I wrote the article before the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force published its new guidelines. Their scientifically unsupportable analysis merely reinforced the concerns I expressed in Diagnostic Imaging.

Baum stated after delivering a lecture about the U.K. breast cancer screening in the USA: "I learned a painful lesson that day: that some topics, particularly breast cancer screening, do not lend themselves to polite and rational scientific debate."

As usual, Dr. Kopans' editorial in support of mammography screening is persuasive and compelling; it is also misleading, largely because of the information he withholds.1

As Diagnostic Imaging previously mentioned, most women at high risk for breast cancer come in for their breast MRI. However, claustrophobia and reluctant patients still exist. Below breast imagers offer their tips.

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death among women. The risk of breast cancer typically increases with age in most countries.

Recent news coverage makes it seem as if women at high risk for breast cancer are refusing breast MRI screening left and right. That’s simply not the case, according to several experts.

New offerings shown at RSNA 2009 by the makers of digital mammography equipment reflected a new reality in the U.S. market, one based on cost constraints and diminishing demand. Vendors emphasized low-cost solutions that guard against obsolescence at the expense of premium ones, a change spurred by the continuing recession in the U.S. and an installed base increasingly saturated with high-end full-field digital mammography systems.

The controversy surrounding mammography screening guidelines announced in November by the influential U.S. Preventive Health Services Task Force has continued to swirl in the nation’s capital.

This month's cover story marks a departure for us. Normally, we would feature a clinical review article, or a look at clinical or economic trends written by the magazine's staff.

Mammography screening is one of the major medical successes of the past several decades, yet this fact seems unable to break free of the doubts promulgated by such articles as Dr. Leonard Berlin's.

Breast cancer detection rates increase substantially when women at high risk and those with dense breasts undergo mammography and ultrasound annually, according to a study presented Wednesday at the 2009 RSNA meeting. MRI is an even more effective technique when used with mammography, but only for women who are at high risk for the condition.

RSNA newbie Real-Time Tomography launched at this year’s meeting a new image processing and enhancement software library for digital mammography. But the product, dubbed Adara, will not be sold to providers, at least not directly. Real-Time Tomography came to Chicago with hopes of attracting original equipment manufacturers to its library.

RSNA newbie Real-Time Tomography launched at this year’s meeting a new image processing and enhancement software library for digital mammography.

Targeted breast ultrasound is less invasive and expensive than biopsy, as well as reduces anxiety over breast cancer screening.

Using sophisticated mapping technology, census data, and state cancer registry statistics, researchers from Georgia established a link between the presence of Mammography Quality Standards Act-certified mammography centers and lower death rates from breast cancer.

MRI is the best method to assess breast cancer tumor size prior to surgery and after chemotherapy, according to findings from the American College of Radiology Imaging Network trial 6657. Size on mammography does not correlate with true residual disease in patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and thus MRI is the best modality, the researchers said.

Radiation from mammography screenings may increase the chances of developing breast cancer for women at high risk, according to findings presented Tuesday at the 2009 RSNA meeting.