Health Watch is a Public Service of the Office of News and Publications and is intended to provide general information only and should not replace the advice of a medical professional. You should contact your physician if you have questions about any of these topics.
This week on Health Watch, we’re talking about breast cancer. Early detection is key to beating breast cancer, but that’s more complicated for women with breast implants.
Dr. Phil Evans, director of the Southwestern Center for Breast Care at UT Southwestern Medical Center, says that doesn’t mean women with implants should skip mammograms. Experienced mammographers will know how to work around the implants. Normal mammograms require two views of each breasts, but women with implants require four views of each breast. It also may be more difficult to read the scans. Because of this, women with breast implants need to look for a facility where both the technicians and the radiologists have experience in dealing with implants. There is some slight risk of implant rupture with the pressure from the mammogram, but the risk for breast cancer is greater.
Visit http://www.utsouthwestern.org/radiology to learn more about UT Southwestern’s clinical services in radiology.
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October 2008
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