Imaging Breast Disease: Mammography and Breast Ultrasound

Abstract

The gold standard among breast imaging techniques is mammography, which is a plain-film X-ray examination. The routine use of mammographic screening for clinically occult breast cancer is widespread, primarily due to favorable results from multiple randomized controlled trials and the development of improved methods of preoperative needle biopsy and localization. A large percentage of radiologists interpret mammograms, and daily caseloads in many practices involve 50 or more such examinations per day. Screening examinations comprise more than 75% of all mammography performed in most developed countries. As a result, the majority of detected lesions, both benign and malignant, are small and nonpalpable. In most general radiology practices, mammography accounts for at least 10% (sometimes as much as 20%) of all examinations performed.