title: Nonpalpable, probably benign lesions: role of follow-up mammography.
abstract: Of 21,855 consecutive women prospectively studied with mammography, physical examination, and high-resolution ultrasonography when appropriate, 558 received a diagnosis of nonpalpable, probably benign lesions. Follow-up mammography was recommended for these patients. Characteristically benign lesions and palpable masses were excluded from analysis. The positive predictive value for detection of a nonpalpable, probably benign breast lesion was 0.017. Nine patients ultimately proved to have carcinoma; two of them had noninvasive carcinoma, and two had axillary node metastases. The positive predictive value for detection of a nonpalpable, probably malignant lesion was 0.47. The policy of recommending mammographic surveillance for nonpalpable, probably benign lesions, a viable option for radiologists, has the capability of lowering the rate and therefore the costs of biopsy procedures with negative results.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Radiology, Hospital Pereira Rossell, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Varas
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Leborgne
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Leborgne
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors