Digital Mammography: A useful tool for differentiating benign from malignant breast masses

Objective: To assess the efficacy of digital mammography in differentiation of benign and malignant breast masses. Methodology: This validity study was conducted in Radiology Department, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan from September 2016 to September 2017. 55 patients with BIRADS 0,III, IV & V on digital mammography underwent histopathological analysis. Diagnostic accuracy of digital mammography was calculated by taking histopathological analysis as gold standard. Analysis was done via SPSS version 20. Results: Mean age for disease was 46.30 +/- 8.30 years. Overall Sensitivity, Specificity, Positive Predictive Value and Negative Predictive Value for digital mammography were found to be 93.75%, 97.44%, 93.75% and 97.44%. Both Sensitivity and specificity were higher below age of 50 than for patients above age 50. Conclusions: Digital mammography had excellent specificity and sensitivity especially for younger breasts. Due to low dose and superior contrast resolution it can be used as screening tool in young ages.