Diagnostic value of radiological breast imaging in a non-screening population

✍ Scribed by Karin Flobbe; Ed S. van der Linden; Alfons G.H. Kessels; Jos M.A. van Engelshoven

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: French
• Weight: 48 KB
• Volume: 92
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7136
• DOI: 10.1002/ijc.1235

✦ Synopsis

The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic performance of breast imaging in the diagnosis of breast cancer in a non-screening population. In a consecutive set of patients referred for mammography in one year, the results of palpation and radiological breast imaging were scored on a 5-point grading scale and linked to pathology as gold standard after a follow up period of one year. The diagnostic performance was studied by logistic regression analysis and ROC-curves. There were 1,944 breast examinations in 1,890 patients and 3,816 breasts. Pathology results reported 118 malignancies in 115 women. With a cut-off point between benign and uncertain benign a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 98% was found for radiological imaging. ROC-curves showed a significant increase in diagnostic performance when radiology was added to results of palpation and age (p ‫؍‬ 0.007). Radiological imaging tests have a large diagnostic value in the detection of breast cancer in addition to palpation and age. A sensitivity close to 100% could be reached.