Specimen radiography for nonpalpable breast lesions found by mammography: Procedures and results

Abstract

As radiologic techniques have improved in the past decade an increasing number of nonpalpable breast lesions is being found by mammography. Specimen radiography is a simple procedure which can be incorporated into the routine activities of the pathology laboratory to facilitate the diagnosis of these minimal lesions. When calcifications are present they provide a useful marker that can be used to localize the lesions radiologically for histologic examination. Employing a team approach that involves radiologists, pathologists, and surgeons, we have developed an efficient procedure to perform specimen radiography of biopsies to confirm the excision of lesions that had been shown to contain calcifications by prior mammography, and to localize them for histologic study. In addition to a detailed description of a procedure for specimen radiography, this report presents the results of 125 consecutive biopsies that involved specimen radiography during surgery. Carcinoma was identified in 32 (25%). The benign lesions that most often suggested carcinoma because of calcification in the mammograms were papillomatosis and sclerosing adenosis.