0:00

This is a 68-year-old female presenting,

0:02

uh, for screening, uh, mammography.

0:06

Uh, the image quality looks good in this exam.

0:10

Pull up just the left, uh, CC and MLO view.

0:15

And looking broadly, we don't see

0:17

anything that looks too suspicious.

0:18

This little mass here was, um, stable on prior exams.

0:23

However, if we look closely, there are

0:25

some subtle potential calcifications here

0:27

in the medial aspect of the left breast.

0:31

In which potentially correspond to these

0:33

few calcifications we see here in the

0:37

sub- or slightly superior left breast.

0:41

And just scroll through the, um, DBT

0:43

slices to look for these calcifications.

0:45

See if we can figure out how to localize them

0:47

a little bit better as we scroll through.

0:51

It's difficult to find, uh, these calcifications.

0:54

We might wonder if it's sort of in this tissue here.

0:57

Um, whether that might correspond

0:59

to exactly what we're seeing in that

1:00

superior part of the breast, potentially.

1:02

So they look kind of ish.

1:03

There's a few little white dots here, and it

1:06

does project a little bit into the superior part

1:08

of the breast on the, uh, imaging scroll bar.

1:11

The patient was recalled for these,

1:13

uh, calcifications in the left breast.

1:16

It was subsequently obtained, uh, both

1:17

magnification views, the CC and ML projection.

1:21

I'll pull up just the CC one first.

1:24

If we look in the CC view, our expected location of

1:27

these calcifications is somewhere in this region.

1:29

Now if we look closely, we don't really see

1:31

them. We might potentially see something

1:33

here, although that's hard to tell.

1:36

Um, but we don't really distinctly see the

1:38

same groups that we saw on the DBT study.

1:42

And if I pull up the ML view corresponding,

1:46

nothing really stands out here.

1:47

Maybe potentially in here.

1:49

Um, but I think that's hard to, hard to say.

1:50

44 00:01:52,845 --> 00:01:55,725 So I think ultimately these calcifications

1:55

were pseudo-calcifications that we saw

1:57

in two views and, um, can be considered

2:01

an artifact, uh, and not a real finding.

2:04

So this patient can be

2:05

recommended for routine screening.

Pseudocalcifications - Case 2

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0:00

This is a 68-year-old female presenting,

0:02

uh, for screening, uh, mammography.

0:06

Uh, the image quality looks good in this exam.

0:10

Pull up just the left, uh, CC and MLO view.

0:15

And looking broadly, we don't see

0:17

anything that looks too suspicious.

0:18

This little mass here was, um, stable on prior exams.

0:23

However, if we look closely, there are

0:25

some subtle potential calcifications here

0:27

in the medial aspect of the left breast.

0:31

In which potentially correspond to these

0:33

few calcifications we see here in the

0:37

sub- or slightly superior left breast.

0:41

And just scroll through the, um, DBT

0:43

slices to look for these calcifications.

0:45

See if we can figure out how to localize them

0:47

a little bit better as we scroll through.

0:51

It's difficult to find, uh, these calcifications.

0:54

We might wonder if it's sort of in this tissue here.

0:57

Um, whether that might correspond

0:59

to exactly what we're seeing in that

1:00

superior part of the breast, potentially.

1:02

So they look kind of ish.

1:03

There's a few little white dots here, and it

1:06

does project a little bit into the superior part

1:08

of the breast on the, uh, imaging scroll bar.

1:11

The patient was recalled for these,

1:13

uh, calcifications in the left breast.

1:16

It was subsequently obtained, uh, both

1:17

magnification views, the CC and ML projection.

1:21

I'll pull up just the CC one first.

1:24

If we look in the CC view, our expected location of

1:27

these calcifications is somewhere in this region.

1:29

Now if we look closely, we don't really see

1:31

them. We might potentially see something

1:33

here, although that's hard to tell.

1:36

Um, but we don't really distinctly see the

1:38

same groups that we saw on the DBT study.

1:42

And if I pull up the ML view corresponding,

1:46

nothing really stands out here.

1:47

Maybe potentially in here.

1:49

Um, but I think that's hard to, hard to say.

1:50

44 00:01:52,845 --> 00:01:55,725 So I think ultimately these calcifications

1:55

were pseudo-calcifications that we saw

1:57

in two views and, um, can be considered

2:01

an artifact, uh, and not a real finding.

2:04

So this patient can be

2:05

recommended for routine screening.

Report

Faculty

Ryan W. Woods, MD, MPH

Assistant Professor of Radiology

University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Lesson

Pre-Course Activities

Lesson

Introduction to Tomosynthesis

Lesson

Approach to Interpretation and Lesion Localization

Lesson

Normal Imaging Findings

Lesson

Asymmetries and Masses

Lesson

Gynecomastia

Lesson

Fat-containing Lesions

Lesson

Architectural Distortion

Lesson

Calcifications

Lesson

Associated Findings

Lesson

Postsurgical Findings

Pseudocalcifications - Case 2