“It’s the biggest breakthrough we’ve had in breast imaging in years,” said Jacqui Appel, breast program manager at TriHealth. “It’s an excellent tool in our tool box.”
The Cincinnati health system has used a tomosynthesis unit at Bethesda North Hospital for three years now, Appel said. A second unit was installed last week at Good Samaritan Hospital.
Appel said research published in the June issue of Journal of the American Medical Association detailed a 15 percent reduction in call-back rate for patients and a 29 percent increase in cancer detection rates when using tomosynthesis.
TriHealth’s Bethesda Butler Hospital in Hamilton recently had its mammography technology upgraded but the hospital does not yet have 3D mammography. But Appel said the Hologic-brand unit installed in Hamilton is “tomo-ready” and can be upgraded as patient demand calls for it.
UC Health’s West Chester Hospital started using a tomosynthesis unit this past May. There’s a second unit being installed in November at the UC Health Physicians Office North in West Chester, said Dr. Amy Argus, director of breast imaging at West Chester Hospital.
Argus said she has some patients ask for the technology, or their doctor recommends it, but she said not enough women know about it. The hospital has created a 3D mammography information sheet being sent to patients with reminder letters.
“It’s been well shown as beneficial; it’s a better way to do mammography that improves cancer detection and decreases false positives,” Argus said.
Argus said with a traditional screening mammography, the many layers of breast tissue are pushed together on a flat image. The overlap of breast tissue can sometimes appear as a lump.
“(With 3D), we can scroll through like pages of a book, instead of looking at a cover of the book,” Argus said.
The Mercy Health system was also an early adopter of tomosynthesis, said Dr. Bradford Woodall, medical director of radiology at Mercy Health — Fairfield Hospital. Tomosynthesis is used at each Mercy hospital as well as in one of three mobile vans and at outpatient locations.
Woodall said tomosynthesis proves to be a better technology for mammograms because of the 3D analysis it provides. He said a tomo scan produces 15 images of the breast with between 50-90 slabs created by the computer.
“You have more detailed imaging of the entire breast,” Woodall said. “For certain, we’ve picked up cancers we didn’t see on routine mammograms. The earlier we find (the cancer) the better outcome for the patient.”
Woodall said traditional screening mammograms miss between 25-30 percent of breast cancers.
Woodall said the use of tomosynthesis has allowed Mercy Health to reduce its rate of call-backs by 25-30 percent for patients that require follow-up ultrasounds and scans, cutting down on the level of anxiety for a patient.
Fort Hamilton Hospital and Atrium Medical Center in Middletown don’t have any 3D mammography technology, but officials at both hospitals say it’s on the horizon.
Sharon Howard, spokeswoman at Atrium Medical Center, said the Premier Health network has been rolling out tomosynthesis technology at Miami Valley Hospital, Miami Valley Hospital South and Upper Valley.
“We have the technology ready to go at Atrium; Atrium is next on the list,” Howard said.
Dr. Linda Reilman, medical director of radiology at Fort Hamilton Hospital, said no Kettering Health Network hospital uses tomosynthesis. The Hamilton hospital is a fully digital department and its scans are read both by radiologists and CAD, computer-assisted detection.
But Reilman said at Fort Hamilton she is “actively pursuing” acquiring the new technology.
“As other facilities are acquiring that, the local community is becoming more comfortable with that technology,” Reilman said. “We’re watching how it evolves and how effective it is.”
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