Women screened with digital breast tomosynthesis have lower likelihood of high-density categorization
WEDNESDAY, March 20, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) breast density categorization may vary by screening mammographic modality, according to a study published online March 19 in Radiology.
Aimilia Gastounioti, Ph.D., from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues retrospectively analyzed data from 24,736 individual women who underwent one to seven mammographic screening examinations: digital mammography alone, digital mammography with digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), or synthetic mammography with DBT (8,935, 30,779, and 21,052 examinations, respectively). The likelihood of assignment to the high versus low BI-RADS density category was examined according to each modality.
The researchers found that compared with digital mammography alone, the likelihood of categorization of high-density breasts was lower for women screened with DBT (digital mammography and DBT versus digital mammography alone: odds ratio, 0.69; synthetic mammography and DBT versus digital mammography alone: odds ratio, 0.43). Compared with digital mammography and DBT, the likelihood of high density was lower with synthetic mammography and DBT (odds ratio, 0.62). There were interactions of modality with ethnicity and body mass index (BMI); differences in density categorization according to modality were greater for black versus white women and in groups with higher BMI.
“Our findings may have direct implications for personalized screening because breast density assignments, which often drive recommendations for supplemental screening, may vary according to modality, ethnicity, and BMI,” the authors write.
One author disclosed financial ties to the medical device industry.
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