First AD

Second AD

A 47-year-old woman presents for screening mammography and requests a screening breast ultrasound. On mammography, no suspicious masses or areas of calcifications are identified. The breast tissue is extremely dense.

On ultrasound, there is a newly identified irregular hypoechoic mass in the left 2:00 area. 

The mass identified on ultrasound underwent an ultrasound guided core needle biopsy.

Mammographic sensitivity has been shown to be reduced signiï¬cantly with increasing breast density. Screening breast ultrasound has a role in imaging dense breast tissue as it has been shown to signiï¬cantly increase the detection of small cancers and depict signiï¬cantly more cancers of small size and low stage.

References:Kolb TM, Lichy J, Newhouse JH. Comparison of the Performance of Screening Mammography, Physical Examination, and Breast US and Evaluation of Factors that Inï¬uence Them: An Analysis of 27,825 Patient Evaluations. Radiology 2002; 225:165–175.

Mammography

 mammography modality focus page provides information, videos, podcasts, and the latest news about industry product developments, trial results, screening guidelines, and protocol guidance that touch on the use of mammography, including 2D digital mammography, digital breast tomosynthesis, and breast ultrasound.

Image IQ: 47-year-old with Irregular Mass in Dense Breast Tissue