mammogram
Meaning of mammogram: Compression is the uncomfortable part and also the useful part, since spreading the tissue thin is what makes small findings visible at a lower dose.
Definition of mammogram
A mammogram is an x-ray image of the breast made with a low dose of radiation, taken with the breast compressed briefly between two plates so the tissue spreads out and overlapping structures separate. The images can show masses, distortion of the normal architecture, areas of asymmetry, and tiny specks of calcium called calcifications.
How mammogram is built
- mamm/o, mast/o Combining form · Latin and Greek breast
- -gram Suffix · Greek the record or image produced
A medical term is read from its ending backwards: the suffix first, then the prefix, then the root. See all 223 word parts.
Screening or diagnostic?
| Screening mammogram | Diagnostic mammogram | |
|---|---|---|
| Who has it | People with no symptoms | People with a symptom or an earlier abnormal image |
| Views taken | A standard set of views of each breast | Additional views aimed at the area of concern |
| How it is read | Often in batches afterward | Usually while the person waits, so further imaging can follow at once |
Both use the same machine. The difference lies in the purpose, the number of images and how quickly they are read.
What do the findings and categories mean?
Radiologists report on a standard scale so that the same words mean the same thing everywhere. It runs from a category meaning the images were incomplete and more are needed, through normal, benign and probably benign, to categories describing rising suspicion, and finally to disease already proven. The category rather than the description drives what happens next. Calcifications show why detail matters: scattered, round, evenly sized specks are almost always harmless, while fine irregular ones clustered in a line or a segment can be the earliest visible sign of cancer still confined to a duct. A mass is judged by its shape, its margin and whether it has changed since previous images, which is why older mammograms are valuable and why comparison forms part of every reading.
Why does breast density matter?
Breast tissue is a mixture of fat, which appears dark on the image, and fibrous and glandular tissue, which appears white. Cancer appears white too. In a breast with a high proportion of dense tissue a small tumor can hide the way a snowball hides against snow, so the test detects less. High breast density is also a risk factor for developing breast cancer in its own right, separate from its effect on the image. Density is largely inherited, tends to fall with age, and cannot be judged by feel or from breast size. Many services now report the density category alongside the result, and additional methods such as ultrasound, magnetic resonance, or tomosynthesis, which builds a stack of thin slices rather than one flat image, are used where dense tissue limits what a standard mammogram can show.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
The radiology report described a new finding on the mammogram that warranted additional imaging.
Good to know
A finding described as abnormal on a mammogram needs further evaluation, since the imaging appearance alone does not establish whether it is benign or malignant, and a normal mammogram does not exclude cancer, particularly in dense breast tissue.
Word origin
Where “mammogram” comes from
Formed from mammo-, from Latin mamma, meaning breast, and -gram, from Greek gramma, meaning something written or recorded.