5: Breast imaging Flashcards
What is the main advantage of mammography over USS for imaging breasts?
More detailed picture compared to USS
Which type of breast cancer is best identified by mammography?
DCIS
What is a disadvantage of taking a mammogram?
Delivers a dose of radiation
What type of mammogram can be used instead of taking an MRI?
Contast mammogram
Which imaging modality is used for typical breast cancer screening?
Mammography
When is an ultrasound scan indicated over X-rays for breast masses?
Mass is palpable, inflammatory or occuring in a pregnant woman
Woman is < 40 years old (denser breasts)
What type of ultrasound scan can show you how stiff a tumour is?
Shear wave elastography
Benign breast masses are ___ and malignant breast masses are ___.
benign > soft
malignant > stiff
(Ductal / lobular) cancers are stiffer.
Lobular cancers are stiffer than ductal cancers
They’re both stiff
ok
Which imaging modality gives you the most detailed picture of the breast?
MRI scan
What is a disadvantage of using MRI to image the breasts?
Picture is so detailed that you pick up lots of cancerous cells
Increasing total mastectomy rate when arguably radiotherapy and other treatments would handle it
Which imaging modality is used to monitor a breast cancer’s responsible to treatment?
MRI scan
Which imaging modality is used to screen high risk women (e.g those with BRCA1/2 mutations)?
MRI scan
Who carries out breast biopsies nowadays?
Radiologists
using USS to guide the needle
What benign breast lesion is very common in women under 30?
Fibroadenoma
What benign breast lesions are very common in women aged 30 - 50?
Fibrocystic changes
What is the most likely diagnosis for a breast lump in a woman over 50?
Breast cancer
Apart from the breasts, what other structures can USS be used to view?
Lymph nodes
particularly axilla
What else should be imaged to exclude metastatic disease in breast cancer?
CT chest
(lungs, heart)
In which two inflammatory breast conditions is drainage performed using USS?
Acute mastitis in breastfeeding women
Duct ectasia
Which antibiotic is used to treat cases of acute mastitis caused by Staph aureus or Strep pyogenes?
Flucloxacillin
or Augmentin if patient is penicllin allergic
Why do you want to avoid giving a pregnant woman a mammogram?
X-ray delivers dose of radiation to the child
