Southeastern Connecticut Imaging Center (a partnership between ORA and L&M Systems) is pleased to introduce Digital Mammography. Southeastern Connecticut Imaging Center has installed a state-of-the-art Selenia Digital Mammography Unit, which is identical to the Digital Mammography Units installed at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital and its satellite clinics. Computer-aided detection is included in the imaging exam.

Women will now have the convenience of obtaining a Digital Mammogram and a Bone Density exam during the same visit.

Although several studies have found little difference in cancer detection rates between digital and film mammography, digital mammography has several potential advantages over film. Due to the ability to manipulate the image for clearer definition, digital mammography will result in less callbacks in comparison to film screen mammography. Digital mammography has been found to be slightly more accurate for pre-menopausal and peri-menopausal women and for women with dense breasts.

Physicians are reminded that out of a group of 10,000 40-year old women, 160 women will develop breast cancer over the following 10-years. A physician order is not necessary for scheduling a screening mammogram and Southeastern Connecticut Imaging Center will honor any pre-printed requisition form for a diagnostic mammogram.

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Digital Mammography takes an electronic image of the breast and stores it directly on a computer. This differs from the traditional film mammography in which an image is created directly on a film. The Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST) compared digital mammograms to film mammograms in 49,528 women who had no signs of breast cancer. This trial was conducted by the American College of Radiology and cost $26 million dollars. Each woman in the trial had a digital and film mammogram taken on the same day.

Since breast cancer is the most common non-skin cancer and the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States, this trial was conducted in order to determine whether or not digital mammography is more sensitive than film mammography in detecting breast cancer. Digital mammography was significantly better in screening women of the following categories:

• Women under the age of 50
• Women of any age with moderately dense or extremely dense breasts
• Pre- or peri-menopausal women of any age (last menstrual period within 12-months of their mammograms)

Approximately 65% of the women will fit into one of these three categories that showed a benefit with digital mammography. Breast carcinoma detected by digital mammography and missed by film, in women under the age of 50, included many invasive cancers and in situ lesions. In situ lesions in the breast are confined to the breast duct without invading the surrounding breast tissue and are known as, “ductal carcinoma in situ”. These are the lesions that must be detected early in order to save more lives through screening.

Although digital mammography is more sensitive than film mammography in women under the age of 50 and in women with dense breasts, it is important to note that digital mammography did not find all the breast cancers in the study population. Any woman who develops a lump or symptoms referable to the breast should consult with a physician even if the mammogram shows no sign of breast cancer.

An additional advantage of digital mammography over film mammography is that there is slightly less radiation exposure with a digital mammogram. Digital mammograms require approximately ¾ the radiation dose of film mammography.

The American College of Radiology recommendations for screening mammography are as follows:

• A baseline mammogram should be obtained between the ages of 35 and 40 years of age.
• Asymptomatic women who are 40 years of age or older should receive an annual screening mammogram.
• Women with a family history of breast cancer may benefit from earlier initiation of screening mammograms.

A screening mammogram does not require a physician order.

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