COMPARATIVE MAMMOGRAPHY STUDY

Abstract

Based on a 2 year program in mammography in which comparisons were made between results on patients studied at Emory University Hospital and 16 participating institutions, the following conclusions seem justified: both radiologists and technicians can be trained to do competent mammography; there is a wide latitude in roentgenograms of diagnostic quality using the Egan technique for mammography; for the best results in breast cancer detection, both clinical examination and mammography should be combined (the accuracy by either method is only 88%), there is a definite improvement in cancer detection by mammography if clinical information is used; Cancer can be detected with relative ease in the older patient with fatty breasts as compared to the younger patient with dense fibro-glandularbreasts (this is especially true of mammography, although it applies clinically as well); in general, the less advanced the cancer, the more difficult it is to detect both roentgenographically and clinically; 5% of the breast cancers in this selected group were unsuspected clinically; 12% were not identified roentgenographically.