title: Consistency of visual assessments of mammographic breast density from vendor-specific "for presentation" images.
abstract: Discussions of percent breast density (PD) and breast cancer risk implicitly assume that visual assessments of PD are comparable between vendors despite differences in technology and display algorithms. This study examines the extent to which visual assessments of PD differ between mammograms acquired from two vendors. Pairs of "for presentation" digital mammography images were obtained from two mammography units for 146 women who had a screening mammogram on one vendor unit followed by a diagnostic mammogram on a different vendor unit. Four radiologists independently visually assessed PD from single left mediolateral oblique view images from the two vendors. Analysis of variance, intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC), scatter plots, and Bland-Altman plots were used to evaluate PD assessments between vendors. The mean radiologist PD for each image was used as a consensus PD measure. Overall agreement of the PD assessments was excellent between the two vendors with an ICC of 0.95 (95% confidence interval: 0.93 to 0.97). Bland-Altman plots demonstrated narrow upper and lower limits of agreement between the vendors with only a small bias (2.3 percentage points). The results of this study support the assumption that visual assessment of PD is consistent across mammography vendors despite vendor-specific appearances of "for presentation" images.
authors: Dalhousie University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, 1276 South Park Street, Room 3212, Dickson Building, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2Y9, Canada; Nova Scotia Health Authority, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, 1276 South Park Street, Room 3212, Dickson Building, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2Y9, Canada.
authors: Mohamed
authors: M
authors: Abdolell
authors: Nova Scotia Health Authority , Department of Diagnostic Imaging, 1276 South Park Street, Room 3212, Dickson Building, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2Y9, Canada.
authors: Kaitlyn
authors: K
authors: Tsuruda
authors: Dalhousie University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, 1276 South Park Street, Room 3212, Dickson Building, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2Y9, Canada; Nova Scotia Health Authority, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, 1276 South Park Street, Room 3212, Dickson Building, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2Y9, Canada.
authors: Christopher B
authors: CB
authors: Lightfoot
authors: South Shore Regional Hospital , Department of Diagnostic Imaging, 90 Glen Allan Drive, Bridgewater, Nova Scotia B4V 3S6, Canada.
authors: Eva
authors: E
authors: Barkova
authors: Queen Elizabeth Hospital , Department of Diagnostic Imaging, 60 Riverside Drive, PO Box 6600, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island C1A 8T5, Canada.
authors: Melanie
authors: M
authors: McQuaid
authors: Dalhousie University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, 1276 South Park Street, Room 3212, Dickson Building, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2Y9, Canada; Nova Scotia Health Authority, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, 1276 South Park Street, Room 3212, Dickson Building, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2Y9, Canada; Nova Scotia Breast Screening Program, 603L-7001 Mumford Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3L 2H8, Canada.
authors: Judy
authors: J
authors: Caines
authors: Dalhousie University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, 1276 South Park Street, Room 3212, Dickson Building, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2Y9, Canada; Nova Scotia Health Authority, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, 1276 South Park Street, Room 3212, Dickson Building, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2Y9, Canada.
authors: Sian E
authors: SE
authors: Iles
keywords: agreement; digital mammography; mammographic density; reader variability