Mammography and Ultrasonography Reports Compared with Tissue Diagnosis - An Evidence Based Study in Iran, 2010

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer and the fifth cause of cancer death in Iranian women. Early detection and treatment are important for appropriate management of this disease. Mammography and ultrasonography are used for screening and evaluation of symptomatic cases and the main diagnostic test for breast cancer is pathological. In this study we evaluated mammography and ultrasonography as diagnostic tools. Methods: In this cross-sectional study 384 mammography and ultrasonography reports for 255 women were assessed, divided into benign and malignant groups. Suspected cases were referred for pathology evaluation. The radiologic and pathologic reports were compared and also comparison was performed based on age groups (more and less than 50 years old), history of breastfeeding and gravidity. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS. Results: The mean ages of malignant and benign cases were 49±11.6 and 43±11.2 years, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity for mammography were 73% and 45%, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity for ultrasonography were 69% and 49%, respectively. There were statistical differences between specificity of mammography in patients based on factors such as history of gravidity, breastfeeding and sensitivity in patients equal or more than 50 years old and less. Conclusion: Factors affecting different results in mammography and ultrasonography reports were classified into three groups, consisting of skill, experience and training of medical staff, and setting of instruments. It is recommended that health managers in developing countries pay attention the quality of setting and man power more than current status. Policy-makers and managers must establish guidelines regarding breast imaging in Iran.

Preventing breast cancer in LMICs via screening and/or early detection: The real and the surreal

“…One such method for BC screening/early detection has been the use of ultrasonography (USG) and there have been limited trials in LMICs [123,124] that have proven their utility, especially when dealing with small or dense breasts, as is common with BC occurring in younger premenopausal women in LMICs [124] . Similar trials of USG as a screening modality are required in other LMICs to evaluate its benefits as a more cost-effective and easily available way of conducting BC screening/ early detection.…”

Comparison of Automated Breast Volume Scanning and Hand-Held Ultrasound in the Detection of Breast Cancer: an Analysis of 5,566 Patient Evaluations

“…Supplemental screening using breast US increased the detection of early, node-negative, invasive breast cancers not normally seen on mammography in women with dense parenchyma (Benson et al, 2004;Berg et al, 2004;Wang et al, 2013). However, the dependence on operator technique for hand-held ultrasound (HHUS) is a major concern when considering the widespread use of whole-breast US (Akbari et al, 2012;Lin et al, 2012). Automated breast volume scanning (ABVS), which can produce objective and reproducible images, has several advantages over HHUS-including more reproducibility, the capacity for gathering standardized views of the entire breast volume by lesser trained personnel, 3D capability through multiplanar reconstruction, shorter non-real-time review with delayed interpretation, and the potential for complete documentation (Cho et al, 2006;Chou et al, 2007).…”

Assessment of the accordance between sonography and mammography reports with pathology report based on sonographic guided core needle biopsy in diagnosis of breast masses

“…This difference can be due to participants' age and sample size. The specificity of sonography and mammography as non-invasive radiological diagnostic tools was 45% in Akbari et al [21] study. In Haghighatkhah et al [22] study the specificity of sonography and mammography were 55.3 and 50.7, respectively, that was different from our study.…”