Dignity Health | hello Healthy | Summer 2019

HelloHealthy | Fall 2019 5 research suggests that 3-D mammograms have the potential to: ●  ● Improve the ability of doctors to accurately diagnose breast cancer. ●  ● Find small tumors that may have remained hidden on a conventional mammogram. ●  ● Provide clearer images of abnormalities in dense breasts. Women who have dense breasts – defined as breasts that have a lot of fibrous or glandular tissue and not much fat – are at a slightly higher risk of developing breast cancer. ●  ● Greatly reduce the number of women called back for further testing because of false alarms. “It’s projected that 3-D will become the gold standard of mammography,” Stolley says. “We use it for most of our screening exams at the Women’s Breast Imaging Center.” The American Cancer Society recommends that women at average risk of breast cancer have yearly mammograms starting at age 45. Women between 40 and 44 have the option to start screening with a mammogram every year. Mammograms and more St. Joseph’s Women’s Breast Imaging Center offers both 2-D and 3-D mammograms. (Some health insurance plans will only pay for 2-D mammograms.) In addition to mammograms, the center provides: ●  ● Breast ultrasounds ●  ● Ultrasound-guided biopsy ●  ● Stereotactic biopsy (a biopsy guided by mammogram to reach areas not visible on ultrasound) ●  ● Bone density scans to look for signs of osteoporosis “We are a dedicated breast center,” says Pam Stolley, manager of the Women’s Breast Imaging Center. “We do nothing but breast work, except for the bone scans. Our techs have about 150 years between us just for mammography. Several of us have worked here for 35 years. We see a lot of our patients year after year.”