When doing breast augmentation, know breast implants do have an effect on mammograms. Why do you care? The rate of breast cancer in the US is 1 in 8 (so 12.5% of all women will get breast cancer during their lifetime). Mammograms are still the gold standard for finding breast cancers. And there was a study which showed years ago a delay in breast cancer discovery in women with implants (HERE).
So when doing my recent CME, one of the answers was discussing this issue, and I thought it beared repeating here.
Does the position of the implant in front of the muscle (subglandular) or behind the muscle (subpectoral) matter?
- ANSWER: YES. Under the muscle is better for breast visualization on mammogram.
Does capsular contracture affect your visualization of the breast on mammogram?
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- ANSWER: YES. One study cited the single most important factor which limits breast visualization is capsular contracture of Baker III or IV. This can result in a 50% reduction in the ability to see the breast tissue. See my information on capsular contracture HERE.
Do you need additional views on mammogram when you have implants?
- ANSWER: YES. There is a special view called Eklund. This allows more tissue visualization than the standard compression.
Do you have a different breast cancer survival rate if you do / do not have implants?
- ANSWER: NO. Patients diagnosed with breast cancer have the same survival rate as those without implants.
Do patients with implants have a higher risk for getting breast cancer?
- ANSWER: NO. In fact, when doing epidemiologic studies since 1992, it has shown a lower risk of breast cancer with implants. Furthermore, women with implants do not have a later diagnosis or increased risk for recurrence. (Note: I think women with implants have a lower risk of breast cancer likely because they just don’t have as much breast tissue- that is why they wanted an augmentation in the first place.)