How should women determine which type of mammogram to have?
Women under age 50 or with a “heterogeneously dense or extremely dense” rating on their prior mammogram should consider digital mammography. Women who are uncertain about their density status should inquire about it at the time of their next visit with their health care provider. However, other factors are important and one should keep in mind that film mammography has been successfully used as a screening tool for breast cancer for over 35 years. Experts at the American Cancer Society agree that high quality yearly screening mammography is most important and it would be better to have a film mammogram on schedule at a reliable breast center than delay screening in order to get a digital mammogram. Computer-aided detection (CAD) for mammography – CAD is an exciting advance in the field of breast imaging that provides the radiologist with a computerized second review of mammograms. Computer-aided detection is a computer-generated algorithm that identifies areas of increased density, tis
