What You Should Know about 3D Mammograms

Taking care of your health is of extreme importance, especially if you are a modern aging woman. Understanding and managing the condition of your body, namely your breasts, is vital to proper overall health and extended longevity. If you bypass the latest advancements in 3D mammograms, you could be wasting your time with procedures that do not offer you the most accurate results. At the end of the day, choosing state-of-the-art medical testing is better than opting for outdating techniques.

What Is a 3D Mammogram?

First, you need to know exactly what a 3-dimensional mammogram is. Often referred to by professionals as “Digital Breast Tomosynthesis” or DBT, 3D mammograms are a relatively new technique that is most noninvasive while still being able to render sufficiently accurate results. Approved for use just a few years ago, “DBT” procedures use industry standard technology to make the old 2D mammography versions nearly obsolete.

Why Is It Better than 2D?

There are lots of good reasons why 3D mammograms are so much better than what precedes them. For one, DBT helped doctors to detect breast cancer 22.7 percent more often than its 2D counterpart according to a study conducted by DailyStrength.org. On top of that, early detection was drastically increased when 3D mammograms were administered in time. This resulted in fewer women having to go through painful or embarrassing breast biopsies in search of an unforeseen problem. Of course, that advantage alone makes it a better option for most concerned women and doctors.

Anything Special about Its Detection Abilities?

When you get 3D mammograms you are helping yourself and your doctor detect any problems before they get out of hand. DBT is great for the detection of invasive lobular cancers which plague specialists as being incredibly difficult to see. These types of cancers don’t tend to be in the form of a mass, and 2D mammography can usually only detect invasive ductal cancers and not much else.

How Does Insurance Work for 3D Mammograms?

Unfortunately, a lot of insurance companies are not yet on the 3D mammograms bandwagon. However, many experts believe that this will change in the near future due to the growing number of doctors using DBT technology. On top of that, DBT is much less expensive than the standard breast MRI, but until 3D mammograms are approved for use by Hologic, the average patient might have to pay for the procedure out of pocket.