Janet K. Baum

Diagnostic Accuracy of Digital versus Film Mammography: Exploratory Analysis of Selected Population Subgroups in DMIST

PURPOSE To retrospectively compare the accuracy of digital versus film mammography in population subgroups of the Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST) defined by combinations of age, menopausal status, and breast density, by using either biopsy results or follow-up information as the reference standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS DMIST included women who underwent both digital and film screening mammography. Institutional review board approval at all participating sites and informed consent from all participating women in compliance with HIPAA was obtained for DMIST and this retrospective analysis. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCs) for each modality were compared within each subgroup evaluated (age < 50 vs 50-64 vs >or= 65 years, dense vs nondense breasts at mammography, and pre- or perimenopausal vs postmenopausal status for the two younger age cohorts [10 new subgroups in toto]) while controlling for multiple comparisons (P < .002 indicated a significant difference). All DMIST cancers were evaluated with respect to mammographic detection method (digital vs film vs both vs neither), mammographic lesion type (mass, calcifications, or other), digital machine type, mammographic and pathologic size and diagnosis, existence of prior mammographic study at time of interpretation, months since prior mammographic study, and compressed breast thickness. RESULTS Thirty-three centers enrolled 49 528 women. Breast cancer status was determined for 42,760 women, the group included in this study. Pre- or perimenopausal women younger than 50 years who had dense breasts at film mammography comprised the only subgroup for which digital mammography was significantly better than film (AUCs, 0.79 vs 0.54; P = .0015). Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System-based sensitivity in this subgroup was 0.59 for digital and 0.27 for film mammography. AUCs were not significantly different in any of the other subgroups. For women aged 65 years or older with fatty breasts, the AUC showed a nonsignificant tendency toward film being better than digital mammography (AUCs, 0.88 vs 0.70; P = .0025). CONCLUSION Digital mammography performed significantly better than film for pre- and perimenopausal women younger than 50 years with dense breasts, but film tended nonsignificantly to perform better for women aged 65 years or older with fatty breasts.

Adjunctive self-hypnotic relaxation for outpatient medical procedures: A prospective randomized trial with women undergoing large core breast biopsy

&NA; Medical procedures in outpatient settings have limited options of managing pain and anxiety pharmacologically. We therefore assessed whether this can be achieved by adjunct self‐hypnotic relaxation in a common and particularly anxiety provoking procedure. Two hundred and thirty‐six women referred for large core needle breast biopsy to an urban tertiary university‐affiliated medical center were prospectively randomized to receive standard care (n = 76), structured empathic attention (n = 82), or self‐hypnotic relaxation (n = 78) during their procedures. Patients’ self‐ratings at 10 min‐intervals of pain and anxiety on 0–10 verbal analog scales with 0 = no pain/anxiety at all, 10 = worst pain/anxiety possible, were compared in an ordinal logistic regression model. Womens anxiety increased significantly in the standard group (logit slope = 0.18, p < 0.001), did not change in the empathy group (slope = −0.04, p = 0.45), and decreased significantly in the hypnosis group (slope = −0.27, p < 0.001). Pain increased significantly in all three groups (logit slopes: standard care = 0.53, empathy = 0.37, hypnosis = 0.34; all p < 0.001) though less steeply with hypnosis and empathy than standard care (p = 0.024 and p = 0.018, respectively). Room time and cost were not significantly different in an univariate ANOVA despite hypnosis and empathy requiring an additional professional: 46 min/

Ultrasonic Evaluation of Pleural Opacities

161 for standard care, 43 min/

Ultrasonic Diagnosis of Postoperative Intra-Abdominal Abscess

163 for empathy, and 39 min/

Use of Doppler ultrasound in the evaluation of breast carcinoma.

152 for hypnosis. We conclude that, while both structured empathy and hypnosis decrease procedural pain and anxiety, hypnosis provides more powerful anxiety relief without undue cost and thus appears attractive for outpatient pain management.

Use of BI-RADS 3–Probably Benign Category in the American College of Radiology Imaging Network Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial

Forty-one patients with substantial pleural opacities on chest films were examined by A-mode and B-mode ultrasound. Ultrasonic examination provides an accurate means of differentiating pleural fluid from other conditions which produce such opacities and is superior to the chest films as a means of localizing fluid. With the gain setting used in this series, fluid collections less than 1 cm thick were missed and were probably obscured by reverberation from the ribs. M-mode scanning provides a simple and accurate means of localizing the diaphragm in nearly all patients, almost completely eliminating difficulties caused by subdiaphragmatic placement of the thoracocentesis needle.

Cancer Cases from ACRIN Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial: Radiologist Analysis with Use of a Logistic Regression Model

Ultrasonic scanning was used to examine 102 patients suspected of having a postoperative intra-abdominal abscess. An intra-abdominal fluid collect ion was demonstrated in 16 patients; in all 16 the diagnosis was confirmed by operation or necropsy. There were no false positive diagnoses and two false negative diagnoses. An estimate of the volume of fluid in the abscess is helpful since a major discrepancy between predicted and drained volume suggests undrained loculi. Reexamination after drainage can be used to detect undrained or reaccumulated fluid. The ultrasonic method is highly accurate, noninvasive and can be used in critically ill patients.

High resolution CT mammography of surgical biopsy specimens.

Ultrasound is an imaging modality commonly used to evaluate breast lesions in hopes to distinguish benign from malignant solid masses. Angiogenesis, defined as the emergence of new vessels to further the growth of tumor, has stimulated interest in the potential uses of Doppler ultrasound in patients with breast cancer. This article describes different forms of Doppler ultrasound, including color Doppler (CD), power Doppler (PD), and spectral Doppler (SD), as well as 3-dimensional (3D) ultrasound and ultrasound contrast media. We review the role of Doppler ultrasound in distinguishing benign from malignant solid breast masses. We also discuss the role of ultrasound in predicting tumor grade, histology, node status, and lymphatic vascular invasion, and in monitoring breast cancer treatment.

Pseudoaneurysm formation in the breast after core needle biopsy.

PURPOSE To determine (a) how often the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) category 3 was used in the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST), either at the time of screening mammography or after work-up, (b) how often subjects actually returned for the recommended follow-up examination, and (c) the rate and stages of any malignancies subsequently found in subjects for whom short-term interval follow-up was recommended. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at all institutions where subjects were enrolled. All subjects participating in DMIST gave informed consent and the study was HIPAA-compliant. A total of 47,599 DMIST-eligible and evaluable subjects, all of whom consented to undergo both digital and screen-film mammography, were included in this analysis. Cases referred for short-term interval follow-up based on digital, screen-film, or both imaging examinations were determined. Compliance with the recommendations and the final outcome (malignancy diagnosis at biopsy or no malignancy confirmed through follow-up) of each evaluable case were determined. RESULTS A total of 1114 of the 47,599 (2.34%) subjects had tumors assigned a BI-RADS 3 category and were recommended to undergo short-interval follow-up. In this study, 791 of 1114 (71%) of the subjects were compliant with the recommendation and returned for short-interval follow-up. Of the women who did not return for short-interval follow-up, 70% (226 of 323) did return for their next annual mammography. Among all subjects whose tumors were assigned a BI-RADS 3 category either at screening mammography or after additional work-up, nine of 1114 (0.81%) were found to have cancer. Of the nine biopsy-proved cancers, six were invasive cancers and three were ductal carcinoma in situ stage Tis-T1c. The invasive cancers were all less than 2 cm in size. CONCLUSION In DMIST, radiologists used the BI-RADS 3 classification infrequently (2.3% of patients). Tumors assigned a BI-RADS 3 category had a low rate of malignancy. The relatively high rate of noncompliance with short-interval follow-up recommendations (323 of 1114, or 29%) supports prior recommendations that radiologists thoroughly evaluate lesions before placing them in this category.

Assessing the Stand-Alone Sensitivity of Computer-Aided Detection With Cancer Cases From the Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial

PURPOSE To determine which factors contributed to the Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST) cancer detection results. MATERIALS AND METHODS This project was HIPAA compliant and institutional review board approved. Seven radiologist readers reviewed the film hard-copy (screen-film) and digital mammograms in DMIST cancer cases and assessed the factors that contributed to lesion visibility on both types of images. Two multinomial logistic regression models were used to analyze the combined and condensed visibility ratings assigned by the readers to the paired digital and screen-film images. RESULTS Readers most frequently attributed differences in DMIST cancer visibility to variations in image contrast--not differences in positioning or compression--between digital and screen-film mammography. The odds of a cancer being more visible on a digital mammogram--rather than being equally visible on digital and screen-film mammograms--were significantly greater for women with dense breasts than for women with nondense breasts, even with the data adjusted for patient age, lesion type, and mammography system (odds ratio, 2.28; P < .0001). The odds of a cancer being more visible at digital mammography--rather than being equally visible at digital and screen-film mammography--were significantly greater for lesions imaged with the General Electric digital mammography system than for lesions imaged with the Fischer (P = .0070) and Fuji (P = .0070) devices. CONCLUSION The significantly better diagnostic accuracy of digital mammography, as compared with screen-film mammography, in women with dense breasts demonstrated in the DMIST was most likely attributable to differences in image contrast, which were most likely due to the inherent system performance improvements that are available with digital mammography. The authors conclude that the DMIST results were attributable primarily to differences in the display and acquisition characteristics of the mammography devices rather than to reader variability.