Accurate Mammograms With Breast Implants

LOS ANGELES, CA, May 19, 2011 (Press-News.org) Breast implants may obstruct some mammogram imaging, but this does not mean breast implants render mammograms ineffective as a means of screening for breast cancer.

Breast augmentation surgery remained the most popular cosmetic surgery procedure in 2010, with 296,000 procedures performed last year alone, according the annual statistics report from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. With that number continuing an upward trend over the past decade, more mammogram technicians and radiologists have experience conducting and reading the results of mammograms of women with breast implants.

Some women with breast implants are reluctant to undergo a mammogram due to fears that the screening will rupture or otherwise damage their breast implants. Although the presence of breast implants can make mammogram imaging more difficult, mammograms on women with breast implants are typically conducted in a way that pushes the breast implants away from the breast tissue so a greater amount of breast tissue can be visualized without exorbitant stress or damage to the breast implants.

However, it is important your mammogram technician be aware of the presence of your breast implants. In order to get an accurate visualization of your breasts, your technician may need to conduct additional compression and displacement views.

One method used to receive comprehensive imaging of women with breast implants is the Eklund technique, in which your breast implants are slightly displaced from your breast tissue in order that a larger amount of breast tissue can be imaged.

Depending on the results of your mammogram, an MRI may be recommended to assess any ambiguities or to achieve a more complete visualization.

While breast implants do not increase your risk for breast cancer, it is just as important that women with breast implants follow the American Cancer Society recommendations that all women have an annual mammogram beginning at age 40, or earlier if you have a family history of cancer.

If you live in the Beverly Hills, Los Angeles or Newport Beach, California, areas and would like more information about mammograms following after breast augmentation surgery, please visit the website of E. Kim Plastic Surgery at http://www.ekimplasticsurgery.com.