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| Breast Implants Require Special Mammogram Techniques |
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Interference with mammogram readings can occur with breast implants. This interference may delay or hinder the early detection of breast cancer by hiding suspicious lesions. Implants increase the technical difficulty of taking and reading mammograms. It is important that a woman with breast tissue and a breast implant undergo mammography to detect breast cancer.
Mammography requires severe breast compression that could contribute to implant rupture. Special techniques are used to reduce the risk of implant rupture during this compression, and to maximize visualization of the breast tissue during mammography.
These techniques are called breast implant displacement views, Eklund displacement views or Eklund views, after the physician who developed them. Women with implants should always inform the receptionist or scheduler that they have breast implants when making an appointment for mammography and tell the radiologic technologist about the presence of implants before mammography is performed. This is to make sure that the technologists use these special displacement techniques and take extra care when compressing the breasts to avoid rupturing the implant.
The displacement procedure involves pushing the implant back and gently pulling the breast tissue into view. Several factors affect the success of this special technique in imaging the breast tissue in women with breast implants. Therefore, the location of the implant, the degree (hardness) of the capsular contracture, the size of the breast tissue compared to the implant and other factors may affect how well the breast tissue can be imaged.
Also, a radiologist may find it difficult to distinguish calcium deposits in the scar tissue around the implant from a breast tumor when he or she is interpreting the mammogram. Occasionally, it is necessary to remove and examine a small amount of tissue (biopsy) to see whether or not it is cancerous. This can frequently be done without removing the implant.
Source: US Food and Drug Administration, revised/posted 12/8/98.
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