Mammography Services

As a woman, you have a one in eight chance of developing breast cancer during your lifetime.  Used in conjunction with monthly breast self-examination and an annual physical exam from your health care provider, mammography can help detect breast cancer in its early, most treatable stages - up to two years before it is large enough to be felt.  That's why the American Cancer Society has published the following screening mammography guidelines for women with no history of breast disease:

• Age 35-40:  Baseline mammogram
• Age 40 and over:  Every year

What is a mammogram?
A mammogram is a breast x-ray that can reveal tumors too small to be felt and other breast changes suggestive of cancer. 

The experienced technologists at Baptist Regional Medical Center perform over 1000 mammogram's every month.  The procedure itself is quick, simple and involves a minimum of discomfort:

• The breast is placed between two plates and x-rayed
• Usually, each breast is x-rayed twice (from the top and from the side).
• Radiation exposure is minimal.
• A cancerous tumor can be found up to two years before it can be felt

Each of our mammography suites is equipped with state-of-the-art high-resolution screening and diagnostic equipment to produce sharp, clear x-rays of breast tissue.  The system is so sensitive, it can detect tiny microcalcifications in the breast, often the very first sign of cancer.

What to wear?
You will be taken into one of the mammography suites and provided a robe to wear during the examination.

• Wear a two-piece outfit, so you can stay dressed from the waist down during your your exam.
• Don't use any powders or underarm deodorants, because they can interfere with your results.
  

Sterotactic Breast Biopsy

Millions of American women undergo screening mammography as part of their annual health checkups.  Up to five percent of these mammogram's will be read as abnormal, but only ten percent of abnormal mammogram's will actually turn out to be malignant.

Sterotactic breast biopsy is a safe, relatively painless, non-deforming and cost-effective alternative to biopsy surgery for the patient with an abnormal mammogram. 

During the procedure, you lie face down on a special table, and your breast is compressed.  From below, a digital imaging system takes stereoscopic views of the lesion, instantaneously displaying them on a monitor.  A computer calculates the precise location of the lesion.  The breast is anesthetized, using local anesthesia, and several highly accurate core-needle biopsies are drawn for analysis.

Stereotactic breast biopsy offers significant advantages over conventional open surgical biopsy.  Because it's minimally invasive, it's less painful.  Recovery time is minimal, and there is no tissue loss and little or no scarring.  It is also less costly by at least 25 percent.

The exam takes 30 minutes to perform.  On the day of your exam, remember:

• You may eat a light breakfast.
• Wear a two-piece outfit, so you can stay dressed from the waist down during your exam.
• Don't use any powders or underarm deodorants, because they can interfere with the procedure.
• Do not take aspirin or anticoagulant medications two days before and two days after your stereotactic biopsy is performed.

Digital Mammography

Baptist Regional Medical Center just implemented the latest technology in Digital Mammography.  Digital mammography creates new possibilities for technologies that could enable physicians to find cancer earlier than ever before.

What is Digital Mammography? 

Digital mammography uses essentially the same processes as conventional mammography, but the system is equipped with a digital receptor and a computer instead of film cassette. With digital mammography an electronic image is taken and stored directly in a computer system.

Research in Mammography

The American Cancer Society ranks Breast cancer as the most common cancer found in US women today.

Digital mammography has been proven to be more accurate at detecting cancers in women under 50, women with dense breasts, and women who had not yet reached menopause or who were just approaching menopause.

What are the Advantages of Digital Mammography?

• Digital mammography uses less radiation than film mammography.
• Digital mammography allows improvement image storage and transmission because images can be stored and sent electronically.
• Digital imaging allows multiple specialists to simultaneously view images through a secure network while at different locations.
• Digital mammography allows the image to be manipulated in ways that improve resolution and contrast, allowing for a clearer image.
• A clear digital image allows for easier viewing of dense breast tissue and small tumors, and often eliminates the need for additional follow-up imaging.
• With digital imaging, images are sent through a separate computer-assisted diagnosis (CAD), which provides a second independent analysis and has been proven to increase accuracy.
  

With the use of Digital Mammography, Baptist Regional Medical Center continues to pursue the goal of providing, Quality Close to Home.

To schedule a your appointment for a Digital Mammogram call our scheduling department at 606-523-8602 or if you have any questions about Digital Mammography services, please contact the Mammography department at 606-523-8504.