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MUSC switches to digital mammography  The installation of four full-field digital mammography units at MUSC (three in Rutledge Tower and one in the Hollings Cancer Center) makes the MUSC imaging department the only completely digital imaging center in the Lowcounty. Full-field digital imaging has proven benefits for the patient and is potentially superior in the detection of breast cancer, according to Thomas Pope, M.D., director of Breast Imaging at MUSC.   As with digital imaging and film-screen mammography, X-rays are used to produce an image of breast tissue, but the radiation dose used can be as much as 20 to 35 percent lower with the digital imaging. The digital system records the image on a computer or other storage media as an electronic file rather than displaying it on X-ray film.  Since this information is digital, it is harder  to lose than film and there is no need for a file room since it is stored on electronic media.   The interpretation of the images is performed at workstations (very powerful computers with extremely high resolution monitors) and this digital information can also be transferred by Internet to any location for the referring physicians or to obtain another imaging opinion.  The results of an ongoing clinical trial sponsored by the American College of Radiology comparing film-screen mammography with full- field digital mammography will be released this summer, and it is anticipated that full-field digital will be comparable to film and potentially superior to it in some circumstances.   A significant advantage of digital mammography is that it allows the radiologist to manipulate the images on the screen electronically to eliminate shadows in the backdrop of a picture, or to zoom in on a suspicious area. While it has not been proven as yet, the manipulation has the potential of allowing a radiologist to catch an abnormality that wouldn’t show up on film, according to Pope.   Digital mammography was proven to have the advantage of a lower recall rate (the percentage of women needing further evaluation) and lower biopsy rate (the percentage of women needing a biopsy as the result of an abnormal mammogram).   There is a definite convenience factor with the new technology, both for the patient and the physician, said Pope. With the old system, after a woman gets a mammogram, she needs to wait up to 10 minutes in some instances until the film is processed so the technician knows there is a good image for the doctor to evaluate.  With the digital system, the electronic image is immediately available to the technologist in the mammography suite and the patient is on her way much faster.   Digital mammography was added to the state-of-the-art imaging armamentarium of the radiology department which now includes breast ultrasound, breast MR imaging, nuclear medicine imaging and PET; all of which are important in the diagnosis of and therapy for breast diseases. MUSC also has a Multidisciplinary Breast Team composed of breast surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation therapists, pathologists, radiologists, nurses and other paramedical personnel.  All of these members of the group work closely together for the benefit of the individual being treated for any breast disorder.     Friday, June 3, 2005 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.