A mammary gland is considered dense when a woman’s breasts are made up almost exclusively of glandular tissue and little fat tissue. In these cases, the ability of mammography to find small tumors is limited and for this reason it is recommended to complete the examination with an ultrasound calcium score screening in Middletown.

How is mammography done?

The examination consists of placing the breast on a special platform and gradual compression with a transparent plastic paddle. Breast compression is necessary because it allows the thickness of the organ to be uniform in order to view it in its entirety and involves a lower dose of X-rays and a higher image quality as a thinner layer of tissue is examined.

How long does a mammogram last?

The overall time of an exam is approx. 15 minutes: at first the acceptance is carried out where the personal data must be presented with the card of the basic health insurance and then the radiology technique will make the patient sit in the cabin where she will have to prepare by removing only the upper part of the clothes.

The actual duration of a mammogram is a few seconds per projection. 4 projections must be performed (2 oblique and 2 lateral).

Contraindications to mammography (for which there are always exceptions) are as follows:

Feeding time

Young age

Pregnancy in progress

In these cases, will evaluate the need to perform the examination by studying the situation and always discusses it first with the patient. Breast implants for breast augmentation are NOT a contraindication: our techniques in radiology have also been trained to perform mammograms for patients who have undergone aesthetic breast augmentation.

Is mammography feasible even for small breasts?

Regardless of the size of the breast, mammography is able to identify symptoms early, the results can only be influenced by the density of the glandular tissue as explained above. Breast size facilitates the clinical efficacy of self-examination as it is easier to feel a lump on a small breast. It is not the dimension of meaning that determines the risk of developing a particular pathology or not, there is no relationship.