[Semiology of benign diseases of the breast in mammography (author's transl)].

Mammography is a basic examination which must never be dissociated from the clinical background. A statistical blind study of 330 cases shows that only well definite syndroms are reliable. The presence of absence of a single sign has no value. Difficulties arise in the diagnosis of suspect nodule in a dense dystrophic breast. Hydratation of the connecting tissue is a fundamental concept for analysis of mammographic pictures. The densities change according to hormonal influence, growth of dystrophy and specific signs of fibrillary or hyalin fibrosis. A histological study of serial cuts of the breast shows that the must reliable signs are found in the center of the nodule ande immediately around it. As in the histological study, serial cuts are indispensable in X-ray examination. Tomography improves the examination of dystrophies.