Hello, My name is Adrea Bennett. I am the Manager of Medical Imaging at UW Northern Illinois (UWNI) (formerly Swedish American Hospital). I have been a Mammographer for 26 years (24 of these years here at UW Northern Illinois)  and a Breast Sonographer for 12 years.  At UWNI we offer 3D Screening and Diagnostic mammography , Breast Ultrasound (Screening and Diagnostic),  Breast MRI (Screening for High Risk patients and Diagnostic), and Breast Biopsy.

Breast Imaging FAQ’s…and a couple myths 😉 

At what age should I start getting mammograms?  At UWNI we encourage patients to get their first mammogram at age 40. 

When can I STOP getting mammograms? Typically you should stop getting mammograms when your life expectancy is less than 10 years.  Of course, none of us really know what our life expectancy is so we would recommend talking to your Dr at around the age of 75 to see if you can/should discontinue screening mammography.

My mammogram report says I have “Dense” breast tissue. What does that mean?  Dense breast tissue refers to the appearance of breast tissue on a mammogram. You cannot determine if you have dense breasts from a physical breast exam.  It’s a normal and common finding.  Breast tissue is composed of milk glands, milk ducts and supportive tissue (dense breast tissue), and fatty tissue (nondense breast tissue). When viewed on a mammogram, women with dense breasts have more dense tissue than fatty tissue.

Why does is matter if I have dense tissue?  The reason it is important for the patient to know they have dense tissue is because breast cancers can “hide” in dense tissue.  On a mammogram, dense tissue is white and so is cancer.  If there is a very small, early breast cancer, sometimes it can be difficult to find in very dense breasts.

Should I be doing something different if I have dense breasts? You should make sure you are getting a 3D mammogram. This type of mammography provides 1cm images through the depth of the breast and then compiles them into a 3 dimensional images. This helps to separate those areas of dense breast tissue from each other so there is less overlapping of the tissue (which can cause false positives). You can also get a yearly, screening Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound exam. This exam is offered at our Rockford campus and can be scheduled on the same day as your screening mammogram or anytime throughout the year.

I have no family history so do I need to worry about getting screening mammograms? (Myth) Most women who develop breast cancer have no family history of breast cancer. The biggest risk factors are being female and increasing age.

Won’t the radiation used for mammography eventually give me breast cancer? (Myth) While a mammogram does use radiation, it is a very small amount and is within the medical guidelines. Because mammography is a screening tool, it is highly regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, Mammography Quality and Standards Act and other governing organizations, like the American College of Radiology. A mammogram is safe as long as the facility you go to is certified by the regulating agencies. There is constant background radiation in the world that we are exposed to every day. The radiation dose from a mammogram is equal to about two months of background radiation for the average woman. UWNI is certified by the ACR (American College of Radiology) and the FDA.

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