My doctor told me I needed to get repeat additional views, diagnostic mammogram, breast ultrasound or a breast MRI. Why?
Sometimes it is difficult to get all the information necessary for a quality examination from two views of the breast. Additional or magnification views permit more information to be gathered about an area of concern. Breast ultrasound is generally used to determine if a lump is fluid filled (cystic) or solid (could be malignant or benign). The result in many cases is still negative. You may have dense breasts, which are more difficult to diagnose with two views or scar tissue from a previous surgery. MRI of the breast may be recommended in cases where conventional mammography and ultrasound show vague abnormalities. It is particularly effective for imaging women with dense breasts. In equivocal cases where the MRI is non-conclusive, a PET scan may be recommended by your physician in order to distinguish scar from malignancy. A PET scan is the most accurate test available to detect malignancy in dense breasts particularly for those patients with significant family history of breast dis
