Published: September 28, 2008 08:32 pm         

Beckley-ARH gets digital mammography

Digital mammography is now available at Beckley-ARH.

According to Jerome Furrow, director of radiology, the new technology went into use this week, giving patients and doctors a new tool for diagnosing breast cancer.

“We can manipulate the contrast and enlarge the image for a better view,” Furrow said. “Computerized assisted detection picks up microcalcifications and puts symbols on the image that alerts the radiologist to look closer at a particular spot on the mammogram.”

Microcalcifications are a natural phenomenon in the body, according to Dr. Tyshaun James-Hart.

“On a mammogram, they are calcium deposits, and most of the time, they don’t mean anything is wrong,” she said.

How the microcalcifications are arranged can be a diagnostic clue.

“If they are new or strangely arranged, these microcalcifications might be found a malignancy, but not always. The arrangement might cause the physician who ordered the mammogram to ask for another one or to do further testing to rule out or to detect the presence of a malignancy,” James-Hart said.

The digital mammography doesn’t diagnose cancer, Furrow said. “The symbols we see are just clues that an area needs further study,” he said.

This is the second site in Beckley to offer digital mammography, Furrow said. “This is important for the community because it promotes more well-being for women in this community.”

The half-million investment by the hospital has an added advantage for younger women, James-Hart said.

“It is a particular advantage for women who are younger than 50 and for women who — for one reason or another — have more dense breasts. The digital mammogram is good about picking up subtle changes in the breast,” she said.

Breasts are made up of three types of tissue — glandular, fibro and fatty.

“Over time, the fibro-glandular tissue gets replaced with fat tissue which shows up white on a mammogram. The digital mammogram gives a sharper image, so the radiologist reading it can get a clearer picture,” James-Hart said.

She is quick to remind women mammography is one of three major means of detecting breast cancer early.

“Women need to be doing self-breast exams and get a clinical exam by a physician each year. The three together can help detect anything that is abnormal more quickly,” James-Hart said.

— E-mail: bdavis@register-herald.com