Radiology, Vol 180, 387-391, Copyright © 1991 by Radiological Society of North America
Mammographic follow-up of nonpalpable low-suspicion breast abnormalities: one versus two views
PD Datoc, CW Hayes, WF Conway, HA Bosch and MP Neal
Department of Radiology, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, VA 23298-0615.
A retrospective study involving 498 women with a total of 666 breast
lesions was undertaken to determine the relative efficacy of one- and
two-view mammography in the follow-up evaluation of "low-suspicion"
abnormal mammographic findings. These abnormalities consisted of well-
defined masses (47.1%), well-defined punctate microcalcifications (20.9%),
and parenchymal asymmetry (32.0%). Confidence in the adequacy of the
single-view follow-up was high in 91% of cases. The addition of the second
mammographic view changed the one-view interpretation in approximately 1%
of all cases. Two cancers were detected during the initial follow-up
period. Both cancers were detected with single-view and standard two-view
follow-up examinations, with high confidence. In this controlled
retrospective study, the single-view follow-up examination was adequate for
follow-up of most low-suspicion mammographic abnormalities. Monitoring by
physicians, however, would be necessary to prevent an unacceptable number
of patient recalls, which could make the one-view follow-up study
impractical to use in some practices.
