Thermal patterns of the female breast

Abstract

A knowledge of the thermal patterns to be expected in the normal female breast is of assistance in the identification of thermal abnormalities due to breast carcinomata. An analysis of the thermal patterns of the breasts of 442 normal women shows that there are a number of fairly well-defined pattern types which are related to the age and hormonal activity of the subject. In cases of malignant disease there is usually a general enhancement of the normal thermal pattern, due to increased blood flow in the major veins, with or without an increase in temperature over the tumour itself. The use of infrared photography is of assistance in the interpretation of thermographs of the breasts, particularly where the breasts are very vascular. Measurement of the difference between the infraclavicular temperature and the mean breast temperature is useful for following changes in the thermal pattern due to the monthly cycle, pregnancy or the contraceptive pill. Thermographs were made of 304 women with breast abnormalities. Out of 38 confirmed cases of carcinoma, 26 were detected by thermography with five equivocal thermographs. False positive diagnoses of carcinoma were made in eight out of 67 cases of fibroadenosis and fibro-adenoma, and in nine out of 42 cases of cystic hyperplasia. The high proportion of false positive results in cases of cystic hyperplasia is likely to be due to an increase in blood flow to the affected breast.