[Results of an interdisciplinary study on the value of contact thermography in the diagnosis of breast disease (author's transl)].

An interdisciplinary study was carried out to determine the accuracy of contact thermography in the detection of breast cancer. 200 patients were examined in form of a blind test, the mammographic and clinical findings being listed separately and inaccessible to the thermography team. The findings obtained on contact thermography also were listed separately and afterwards compared with the clinical and mammographic findings. 50 out of these 200 cases required histological clarification, which revealed 24 carcinomas and 26 benign conditions of the breast. Mammography and contact thermography both failed to detect 3 out of the 24 carcinomas, clinical examination gave a false negative result in 2 cases. Therefore, in the present case material, the accuracy of mammography and contact thermography is equal and enables us to state that the combination of clinical examination and contact thermography of the breast is of high accuracy and suited for routine mass screening programmes to enable the detection of breast disease without radiation exposure.