Unnecesssary Breast Surgery: False Positive Mammograms
Posted by Dr. Chris Prevel on Tue, Oct 25, 2011 @ 08:06 PM
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal by Katherine Hobson indicates that women in their forties and fifties who receive a yearly screening Mammogram over a 10 year period have a 7% to 9% chance of a false positive mammogram study. That means that 7 to 9 women out of 100 received an unnecessary breast biopsy due to a falsely positive mammogram study. Women who chose to receive bi-annual mammograms have a 1/3 lower risk of a false positive biopsy and do not have a statistically higher risk of a diagnosis of late stage breast cancer.
The important message of this study is that women without a positive family history of breast cancer or other significant risk factors for breast cancer may be better off receiving a bi-annual instead of an annual mammogram after the age of 40. However, this decision must be made only after a long and detailed consultation with your gynecologist.