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breast health mammograms
Mammograms at St Mark's
Are all mammograms equal?
A mammogram is an X-ray examination of the breast. It shows up differences in the soft tissues of the breast, including many of the changes associated with early breast cancer. When you have a mammogram, each breast in turn is squeezed between two sheets of plastic and the X-ray is taken. This squeezing can be uncomfortable, but it allows the greatest amount of information about your breast to be recorded.
Mammography is the only screening modality that has been shown to decrease the death rate from breast cancer. It is therefore vital that mammographic screening is of the highest standard.
Mammograms differ from many other X-ray systems in that they need to show minute detail and to differentiate between different types of soft tissue. Because of this, they need a purpose-built system designed only for this one purpose. This specialist equipment is expensive, and only a unit performing a large number of mammograms can justify the high expenditure of keeping this equipment up to date.
As well as a specially designed machine, other areas of expertise are required to give the best possible results. The amount of information recorded on a mammogram depends both on the quality of the film, and on the expertise of the radiographer. At St Mark’s, the team of dedicated mammographic radiographers are monitored in accordance with the standards of excellence set by the national screening programme.
Mammogram films should be read by a radiologist with a particular interest in breast imaging. They will have dedicated time and energy to achieving the highest possible level of skill in reading mammograms and in performing ultrasound examinations and guided biopsies. They must also have access to a dedicated viewing room. In order to appreciate the often subtle abnormalities, a brighter light is required than for other X-ray viewing, and a magnifying glass is used to see the fine detail.
Remember also that mammography is only part of the multidisciplinary process needed to diagnose a breast symptom. A clinical examination by a breast specialist and a needle biopsy test are also usually required. It therefore makes sense to get a mammogram performed at a specialist breast centre where the best equipment, and the best people, are available to give the highest possible level of service.
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