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BREAST HEALTH
> ULTRASOUND
 You may be told that you need an ultrasound as a
follow-up to your mammogram. Ultrasound is an imaging technique that bounces
sound waves, inaudible to the human ear, off internal organs to create echoes
that form pictures or video called sonograms. Familiar to many people as a
technique used to check fetal development in a pregnant woman, ultrasound also
can be used to provide more information when a woman has felt a lump or when a
mammogram raises questions about an area of the breast.
When is an ultrasound exam done?
An ultrasound breast exam is used
as a diagnostic tool, not a screening method, for breast cancer.
It may be done when:
- An area of concern has been found on a mammogram.
- You have a nipple with drainage or an area where the skin has
retracted on your breast.
- You have very dense breasts. When breasts are mostly dense,
rather than fatty tissue, mammograms are not as good at detecting cancer because
dense tissue shows up on the film as white in color like cancer.
How is the ultrasound done?
While you are lying on a padded
table, a transducer is run over the area of the breast to be imaged. This
painless procedure uses sound waves to show structures inside the breast.
Do I need to do anything special before having this
procedure?
No.
When will I get the results?
The same day that you have your
ultrasound.
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Mammogram
