How Accurate Is A Mammography Report?

Posted on Thu, 10 Sep 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 10 Sep 2015 Answered on

Thu, 1 Oct 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : Also during the mammogram the tech seemed to be having some problem getting me positioned. I got in several contorted positions during the exam. Since I do not consider myself stupid, her remarks that "I kept moving the wrong way or "doing that" and I hate this machine....as well as taking a second image of my right breast...also saying it was supposed to be on 45% and telling me it kept saying 44% and 46%...I could look up and see it going constantly from 44% to 46%. The whole thing along with IT walking back and forth...including one male IT guy that I came face to face with as I left the examining room. The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. Thanks for your help and listening. I have also read that there is some concern that the CAD is flagging "normal breast changes" and resulting in unnecessary biopsies, anxiety and fear. Have you heard about that? This is a followup question to the one I asked Dr. Chandrakant.

Answered by Dr. Hardik Sanghvi (8 hours later)

Brief Answer:
You are right and I agree with you.

Detailed Answer:
Hi, dear
I have gone through your question. I can understand your concern.
It is not full proof technique and computer assistance may leads to false biopsy. There can be problem in mammography. You should consult either general surgeon or oncologist. Physical examination and mammography reports should be correlate. If needed from this clinical correlation or if you have palpable lump then you should go for fine needle aspiration cytology or biopsy.

Biopsy is definitely the best technique but unnecessary biopsy should be avoided.

Hope I have answered your question, if you have doubt then I will be happy to answer. Thanks for using health care magic. Wish you a very good health.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar