Audit of mammography in a community setting.
A Northwest community concentrated all mammography services in one location and instituted a program of annual review. The 32,118 mammograms prompted 466 biopsies of women who had no palpable abnormality. Over the 5-year study, there were 142 nonpalpable cancers found for a positive biopsy rate of 30%. In the first year, the positive biopsy rate was 17%, and, in the last year, it was 42%. The increase in apparent selectivity prompted a search for false negatives or missed breast cancers. One percent of women subjected to mammography underwent biopsy, but, interestingly, only 84% of women undergoing mammography received a normal report. Eighty-seven percent of the cancers were invasive, and 13% were considered to be noninvasive. A review of the literature suggests significant variation in the frequency of identifying nonpalpable breast cancer, and respected pathologists report variations in the pathologic evaluation of these nonpalpable cancers.
Moseson
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Longview Surgical Group, Washington 98632.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003153:Community Health Services; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography; D008485:Medical Audit; D008875:Middle Aged