Can Ultrasound Machines be used to Diagnose Breast Abnormalities?
Just last year, insurance companies announced plans to limit coverage of mammogram screenings in women who are under 45 or who are not within a high-risk category for breast cancer. Part of the reason for this recommendation may have been motivated by the high cost of the tests, but some in the medical community believe mammograms expose patients to higher levels of radiation than necessary.
Until recently, ultrasound scanning was not used to detect cancer because it could only provide a two dimensional image of the area in question. However, the new 3-D Doppler ultrasound machines use a special technique that allows doctors to evaluate the blood flow through the major arteries of the body, as well as the veins of the arms, legs, neck and abdomen.
Mammography is still the primary diagnostic tool for finding abnormalities in the breast, but the use of ultrasound, particularly Doppler 3-D ultrasound, is in on the rise. One reason for this is the improved safety of ultrasound, and another is relative cost of the test. Plus, mammography can be less than accurate when a woman has dense, glandular breasts. Many clinicians prefer to use ultrasound machine imaging as a secondary method of determining whether an abnormality is a sold mass, a fluid filled cyst, or both. It can also show some of the area’s other unique characteristics.
In addition to the size, shape and texture of a breast abnormality, Doppler ultrasound can assess the blood supply in lesions of the breast. As a result, it is often used as a supplemental method of cancer screening for women who are at high risk for breast cancer and unable to tolerate an MRI.
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