Performance of Computed Radiography and Direct Digital Radiography in a Screening Setting: Effect on the Screening Indicators

摘要

A decentralized breast cancer screening program was started in 2002; in 2005 full-field digital mammography (FFDM) was introduced. The mammographic film-screen systems were gradually replaced by both computed radiography (CR) and direct digital mammography (DR). Quality control (QC) following the European Guidelines has been implemented for the technical aspects and for screening indicators. A previous study in our central breast unit (CBU) over the period 2005 till 2008 had shown no significant difference between the screening indicators of film-screen mammography (FSM) and FFDM. Today we are challenged with a variety of different types of mammography systems and questioned whether any difference would be present from cohorts imaged with CR versus DR. Therefore a new retrospective study over the period 2007 till 2009 has been performed, which shows no statistically significant difference in cancer detection rate (CDR), % of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and positive predictive value (PPV) between the CR and DR group, with exception of the recall rate (RR) in the subsequent round (p-value = 0,04).