Abstract
Screening mammography has not yet become a standard procedure. There are great variations in image quality and radiation dose. Mean glandular dose has become the most frequently used description of radiation dose in screening mammography. Because of the low energy x-ray beam required for the procedure, the use of mean glandular dose as the radiation exposure indicator may cause a misunderstanding of the dose-risk relationship and result in confusion about radiation exposure and the risk of induced neoplasm. Data are presented to show that increases in both maximum glandular dose and imparted energy are greater than the increases in mean glandular dose with comparable increases in breast thickness. In the future, an indication of total imparted energy should replace the use of mean glandular dose as the standard for describing radiation dose in screening mammography.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gaikin, B.M., Feig, S.A., and Muir, H.D., The technical quality of mammography in centers participating in a regional breast cancer awareness program.Radiographics 8(1):133–145, 1988.
National Research Council, Advisory Committee on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiations. The Effects on Populations of Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation. BEIR III. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1980.
National Research Council, Committee on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiations. Health Effects of Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation. BEIR V. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1990.
United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). 1988. Sources, Effects and Risks of Ionizing Radiation. Report E.88.IX.7 New York: United Nations.
Conway, B.J., McCrohan, J.L., Rueter, F.G., and Suleiman, O.H., Mammography in the eighties.Radiology 177:335–339, 1990.
Kerr, G.D., Organ dose estimates for the Japanese atomic-bomb survivors.Health Phys. 37:487–508, 1979.
Preston, D.L., and Pierce, D.A., The effect of changes in dosimetry on cancer mortality risk estimates in the atomic bomb survivors.Rad. Res. 114:437–466, 1988.
Shore, R.E., Hildreth, N., Woodard, E., Dvoretscky, P., Hempelmann, L., and Pasternack, B., Breast cancer among women given x-ray therapy for acute postpartum mastitis.JNCI 77:689–696, 1986.
Sherman, G.J., Howe, G.R., Miller, A.B., and Rosenstein, M., Organ dose per unit exposure resulting from fluoroscopy for artificial pneumothorax.Health Phys. 35:259–269, 1978.
Boice, J.D., Rosenstein, J., and Trout, E.D., Estimation of breast doses and breast cancer risk associated with repeated fluoroscopic chest examinations of women with tuberculosis.Rad. Res. 73:373–390, 1978.
Boice, J.D., Monson, R.R., and Rosenstein, M., Cancer mortality in women after repeated fluoroscopic examinations of the chest.JNCI 66:863–867, 1981.
Hrubec, Z., Boice, J.D., Monson, R.R., and Rosenstein, M., Breast cancer after multiple chest fluoroscopies: second follow-up of Massachusetts women with tuberculosis.Cancer Res. 49:229–234, 1989.
Miller, A.B., Howe, G.R., Sherman, G.J.,et al., Mortality from breast cancer after irradiation during fluoroscopic examinations in patients being treated for tuberculosis.N. Engl. J. Med. 321:1285–9, 1989.
Gohagen, J.K., Darby, W.P., Spitznagel, E.L., and Monsees, B.S., Radiogenic breast cancer effects of mammographic screening.JNCI 77:71–76, 1986.
National Institutes of Health, Ad Hoc Working Group. Report of the National Institutes of Health Ad Hoc Working Group to Develop Radioepidemiological Tables. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt Printing Office; 1985. [DHHS publication No. (NIH) 85-2748].
Prado, K.L., Rakowski, J.T., Barragan, F., and Vanek, K.N., Breast radiation dose in film/screen mammography.Health Phys. 55:81–83, 1988.
Hammerstein, G.R., Miller, D.W., Whit, D.R., Masterson, M.E., Woodard, H.Q., and Laughline, J.S., Absorbed radiation dose in mammography.Radiology 130:485–491, 1979.
Eddy, D.M., Hasselblad, V., McGivney, W., and Hendee, W., The value of mammography screening in women under age 50 years.JAMA 259:1512–1519, 1988.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Adcock, D.F., Howe, D.B. Radiation dose and risk in screening mammography. J Med Syst 18, 173–178 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00996701
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00996701