Successful treatment of breast cancer depends on early diagnosis. Mammography plays an important part in this. By examining the films from your mammogram, your doctor can see changes in your breast tissues up to two years before either you or your doctor can feel them. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), mammography can detect 85 to 90 percent of breast cancers in women over 50. Mammography is a specific type of imaging that uses a low-dose x-ray system and high-contrast, high-resolution film for examination of the breasts.  Current guidelines from the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American College of Radiology (ACR) recommend that beginning at age 40 women get annual mammograms. 

There are two types of mammograms. A diagnostic mammogram is ordered to diagnose problems such as lumps, thickening, inverted nipple, or discharge. A screening mammogram is a "routine" exam. This is done when you have no known problems with your breasts.

Do not schedule your mammogram for the week before your period if your breasts are usually tender during this time. The best time is one week after your period ends. Always inform your doctor or x-ray technologist if there is any possibility that you are pregnant. 

Do not wear deodorant, powder, perfumes or lotion on the day of the exam. These can appear on the x-ray film as calcium spots.

Describe any breast symptoms or problems to the technologist performing the exam. 

If you have them, bring along copies of prior mammograms and give them  to the radiologist when you arrive for your exam. 

Before the examination, you will be asked to remove all jewelry and clothing above the waist and you will be given a gown that opens in the front.

What Happens during your Mammogram?

A specially trained and certified female Mammography  technologist will call you into the exam room. Because of the radiation, no one else is permitted into the room with you while the exam is done. The technologist will review your history with you and make notes for the radiologist concerning scars, moles, lumps, and comments you have concerning your breasts.

During your mammogram, your technologist will position you carefully. The tech will use the special paddles on the machine to compress your breast. It is necessary that your breast be compressed so that the breast tissue thickness is evened out and spread as much as possible. If there is a lesion in the underlying tissues, this compression will enable your doctor to better see it. If you experience significant discomfort, be sure to tell the technician. 

You will have to hold very still and hold your breath for a few seconds while the unit works. Other than the momentary discomfort that you may feel from the compression, you will not experience any pain. 

The technician will reposition you for a second view of the same breast. 

Your mammogram will consist of at least two different positions for each breast, perhaps more if we have to to get a good result.

If you are having a screening (routine) mammogram, the technologist will process and review your films before you go. The radiologist will read your exam after you leave and send a report to your doctor. Because you leave before the radiologist sees your films, there is a chance that you may have to return for additional pictures to be taken.

If you are having a diagnostic mammogram, the technologist will process the films and a radiologist will review them while you wait. Sometimes the radiologist may need additional tests, such as ultrasound, to make a final report for your doctor. The radiologist will talk with you before you leave and give you your results.

One of our radiologists will analyze the images of your breasts, dictate a report on any findings, and suggest a diagnosis. A report will be sent to your referring physician. 

Between 5 and 10 percent of mammogram results are abnormal and require more testing (more mammograms, fine needle aspiration, ultrasound, or biopsy), and most of the follow-up tests confirm that no cancer was present. It is estimated that a woman who has yearly mammograms between ages 40 and 49 would have about a 30 percent chance of having a falsely-positive mammogram at some point in that decade, and about a 7 to 8 percent chance of having a breast biopsy within the 10-year period. The estimate for false-positive mammograms is about 25% for women ages 50 or older.

Mammography is an x-ray imaging process. The exposure to radiation received from two mammographic views is equivalent to about six months of natural exposure. (including cosmic radiation from outer space, radiation from the soil and buildings, and natural isotopes in our own bodies.) This amount is believed to be safe.

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