Comparison of full-field digital mammography to screen-film mammography with respect to diagnostic accuracy of lesion characterization in breast tissue biopsy specimens.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES

This study was performed to investigate whether full-field digital mammography (FFDM) is at least as accurate as screen-film mammography with respect to breast lesion characterization.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Seventy-nine breast surgical specimens were obtained by means of preoperative needle localization with surgical excision from 79 patients. The specimens were imaged with both screen-film mammography and FFDM. Six radiologists specialized in breast imaging analyzed both sets of images and characterized the visualized lesions on a five-point scale: 1, definitely not malignant; 2, probably not malignant; 3, possibly malignant; 4, probably malignant; and 5, definitely malignant. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of the data was then performed to assess for differences between modalities in the radiologists' ability to predict breast malignancy.

RESULTS

The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for the prediction of breast malignancy in surgical biopsy specimens were not statistically significantly different for FFDM and screen-film mammography.

CONCLUSION

The results demonstrate that with breast surgical specimens, FFDM is similar in diagnostic accuracy to screen-film mammography.