Breast Imaging Challenges: Nonconforming Patients and Cancer Considerations
Learn about imaging challenges with nonconforming patients and considerations for cancer patients in breast imaging. Understand how to adapt views for different body types and situations.
Breast Imaging Challenges: Nonconforming Patients and Cancer Considerations
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Presentation Transcript
CHAPTER 8 The Nonconforming Patient
PHYSICAL NONCONFORMITY • Everyone is different! • Small percentage do not physically conform to two-projection mammogram • Modification and/or extra views may be necessary • Positioning is more an art than exact science
DETERMINING THE BEST VIEW • Many anomalies to body habitus • Extra view should demonstrate breast tissue omitted from standard two views • Each view should complement the other views • Learn to evaluate mammogram to determine from which quadrant(s) tissue is missing • Be familiar enough with supplementary projections to choose the most suitable view to complete study
Barrel chest Pectus excavatum Kyphoscoliosis “Wraparound” breasts Male mammograms Postmastectomy NONCONFORMING SITUATIONS • Base of attachment • Wide pedicle • Thin pedicle • Small-breasted • Large-breasted • Obese
WIDE PEDICLE • Wide base of attachment, firm breasted, mobility problem • CC view – extreme posteromedial tissue • MLO view – extreme posterolateral tissue • Additional CC view – possible for anterior tissue • Use compression paddles with tilt design • LM, SIO, SIO with arm up and over, and/or 20° MLO views should be considered
THIN PEDICLE • Skin at the IMF may be delicate and requires careful handling • Use caution in elevating the IMF • Use of pad helps “soften” the breast platform • Possible skin breakdown due to moisture buildup, constant chafing, and possible fungal infection • May need to add 3rd projection of ML or LM for anterior tissue
SMALL-BREASTED • Breasts may be quite firm, have wide base, or extend more laterally than medially • May be impossible to image extreme posterior breast tissue • Raise image receptor to correct IMF height
LARGE-BREASTED • Obesity does not equal breast size • Choose imaging surface that correlates to breast size • May require a 3rd view to demonstrate anterior breast • Mosaic imaging • 20° MLO, true ML or LM
OBESE PATIENT • Evaluate breast size, not patient size • Choose appropriate size image receptor • Many obese women are small-breasted
BARREL CHEST (PIGEON BREAST) • Chest wall excessively protrudes outward • Breast will extend laterally under the arm
PECTUS EXCAVATUM • Sunken chest (sternum and rib cage)
PECTUS EXCAVATUM • CC view, capture as much medial tissue as possible
PECTUS EXCAVATUM • MLO view to image the posterolateral tissue
PECTUS EXCAVATUM • SIO view to image the extreme medial tissue (may also use LM view)
PATIENT WITH KYPHOSCOLIOSIS • “Hunched-back,” vertebral deformity • Possible rib cage deformity • Possible pectus excavatum or barrel chest or combination of both • Deformity may not be symmetrical from side to side • Allow patient to sit down for CC view • Resourcefulness is the key in positioning
“WRAPAROUND” BREASTS • Breast extends excessively laterally into axilla • Extreme lateral tissue may be impossible to image with standard views • Include one of the following for posterolateral tissue: • 20° MLO (SM-IL) • LM • SIO with arm up and over
MALE MAMMOGRAM • Small, firm-breasted exam • Chest hair may cause breast tissue to slip • Critical to include nipple in profile • Pathology is located directly posterior to the nipple
CANCER PATIENT • Issues to complicate the examination • Physical irregularity • Existing discomfort from treatment • Patient’s emotional and psychological state • Fear of the unknown
CANCER PATIENT • Patients with history of breast cancer • Increased risk of developing cancer in contralateral breast • Usually a primary, not metastases • No longer possible to make comparison of tissue between breasts • A three-view study gives radiologist a better opportunity to diagnose a new malignancy
CANCER PATIENT • Architectural distortion on CC view
CANCER PATIENT • Architectural distortion on MLO view
CANCER PATIENT • Architectural distortion on 20° MLO view
POSTMASTECTOMY PATIENT • Early detection of recurrence will have impact on patient’s survival • Physically occult recurrence evident along chest wall, in the axilla, and along lateral ribs • Three views can be performed as a Standard of Care • Examine prior mammograms to note characteristics of original tumor
BREAST CONSERVATION THERAPY (BCT) • Lumpectomy • BCT with radiation therapy • BCT without radiation therapy
SEARCH FOR PRIMARY CARCINOMA • Is an undifferentiated tumor found elsewhere the result of metastases from an occult breast cancer? • To determine, mammogram should include: • CC view • MLO (SM-IL) • Bilateral axilla views • 20° MLO, if dense glandular tissue
SUSPECTED INFLAMMATORY CARCINOMA • May be difficult to differentiate between infection and inflammatory carcinoma • Clinical indications of inflammatory breast cancer • Reddened skin • Hard, hot breast • Peu d’orange appearance of skin • Axillary nodal involvement
SUSPECTED INFLAMMATORY CARCINOMA • Mammography study should include: • CC view • MLO view • Axilla view on affected side