The process of tomosynthesis has been popular in medical imaging, with radiologists aiming to increase their efficiencies with detecting cancerous growths and reduce recall rates with patients. A new study has shown that utilizing this modality in combination with digital mammography leads to better clinical performance and health outcomes.
Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers from the Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois, reviewed data from 13 health centers and compared the results for women screened for breast cancer both before and after the introduction of tomosynthesis. Led by Sarah Friedewald, M.D., the physicians evaluated more than 450,000 records to measure the efficacy of the procedure in detecting breast cancer, FierceMedicalImaging reported.
They found that, among the 281,187 standalone digital imaging mammograms and 173,663 scans with tomosynthesis, the latter exam produced one extra cancer detection for every 1,000 procedures. Subsequently, 16 fewer women were recalled for additional tests per 1,000 exams.
“This study confirms what we already know: 3-D mammography finds more of the invasive, harmful cancers we want found and saves women the anxiety and cost of having additional exams for what turns out to be a false alarm. This study provides us with firm data that 3-D mammography is a better test for detecting breast cancer early when it is treatable,” said study co-author Donna Plecha, M.D., director of breast imaging at University Hospital Case Medical Center in Cleveland, quoted by the news source.
Ability to detect cancer measured by volume
According to findings published in the Journal of Medical Imaging, the number of studies read per year by radiologists is a better method for determining the ability to detect cancer than the physician’s experience. AuntMinnie.com reported that researchers from the University of Sydney in Australia and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, collaborated to compare the performances of both countries’ radiologists in interpreting images.
The team, led by Ph.D. candidate Wasfi Suleiman, wanted to know whether different reading volume requirements from the two nations resulted in disparate accuracies. Previously, studies have examined numerous factors that could affect readings, such as the radiologist’s age, the average annual reading volume of mammograms and the ratio of interpreted screening and diagnostic mammograms. However, the study from Suleiman and his colleagues is one of the first to compare radiologist performance on an international scale.
“Such a comparison may help shed light on whether differing practice requirements produce different outcomes in radiologists’ accuracy,” wrote the researchers, quoted by AuntMinnie.com.
The study included 41 radiologists – 21 from Australia and 20 from the U.S. – who reviewed 30 mammography cases containing two-view mammograms. Twenty had abnormal findings and 10 had normal results. The physicians were asked to identify any growths and rank their confidences on a scale of 2 to 5. Completing a total of 1,230 readings, the researchers found that the Australian radiologists showed higher accuracy due to greater amounts of interpretations and experience than their U.S. counterparts. Doctors who reviewed the highest number of cases per year perform better than those with lower numbers, but health care experience did not necessarily correlate to improved abilities.
Because mammograms can make the difference in the early detection of breast cancer, it is important that radiologists perform more readings with an upgraded PACS system. Patients deserve the best and most accurate care available without having to be undergo repeated exams that could have negative effects over time, such as overexposure to radiation doses or high medical costs.
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Ronny Bachrach
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