Before you book your very first mammogram, do your homework. The imaging itself is quick and may be just slightly uncomfortable, but the pictures can be drastically different depending on the type of mammogram you have. Your options are either 2D or 3D and the results can be like watching your favorite show on an 80\u2019s TV with a grainy picture or on a flat screen HD TV like you probably have at home. And when it comes to your breast health, especially those first images, which will serve as a baseline, the picture quality really matters.<\/p>\n
Dr. Paula George, a RAYUS Breast Radiologist at Midwest Breast Care in St. Louis, MO has a highly trained eye for breast cancer. She looks at images of mammograms day in and day out and can spot an area of concern that would look like nothing to the untrained eye. When it comes to your first mammogram, Dr. George strongly recommends 3D. Her reasoning is two-fold. First, it gives you a great baseline with the most information, and it also decreases the chances you\u2019ll be called back for a re-scan.<\/p>\n
Ask anyone who has been \u201ccalled back\u201d after a mammogram and they\u2019ll tell you that news can come with anxiety. It doesn\u2019t mean breast cancer has been detected, in fact, the vast majority of callbacks turn out to be normal, but it does mean the radiologist saw something suspicious and needs to take another look. It happens most frequently on a first mammogram because there are no other images of your breasts for the radiologist to cross-reference. Want to lessen the chance of being called back? Get the test that shows the radiologist much more detail.<\/p>\n
A 2D mammogram takes 2 pictures of each breast \u2013 one from the top and one from the side. For every one picture in a 2D, the 3D captures 40-50 images from many different angles. It takes a millimeter-by-millimeter look through your breast tissue and any masses, that may be associated with breast cancers, are more easily recognized. Both tests are done on the same machine and have the same type of radiation exposure \u2013 through a 3D exam takes a few seconds longer on each side.<\/p>\n
When 3D mammography (also called tomosynthesis) is used, it has been shown that breast cancer detection rates, especially in women with dense breasts, has increased up to 40% according to research presented to the Radiological Society of North America<\/a>. Dr. George explains how 3D images assist radiologists in detecting smaller tumors, \u201cWhen we do tomosynthesis, you get a much deeper look at the breast. You can see it millimeter by millimeter, so you can pick up small cancers better.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n