Mammography and Breast Ultrasound

Mammography plays a vital role in the early detection of breast cancer, when the disease is most curable, and therapy is most effective. CIRA radiologists are experts in full-field digital mammography, which utilizes digital imaging with computer-aided detection to highlight areas of abnormality within the breast, alerting our fellowship-trained radiologists of the need for further analysis.

Accurate reading of a mammogram continues to be highly dependent on the training and experience of the radiologist. CIRA offers the most experienced women’s imaging specialists available. In fact, several of our radiologists are fellowship-trained in women’s and breast imaging.

CIRA women’s imaging experts also perform breast ultrasound to diagnose breast abnormalities detected by a physician during a physical exam (e.g., lump or nipple discharge) and classify abnormalities found during a mammogram. A major benefit of ultrasound is that the radiologist is able to determine that many areas of clinical concern are either normal tissue (e.g., fat lobules) or benign cysts. For most women ages 30 and older, a mammogram is used together with ultrasound. For women under 30, ultrasound alone is often sufficient to determine whether an area of concern within the breast requires a biopsy.