Usefulness of technetium-99m tetrofosmin scintimammography to detect breast cancer in mammographically dense breasts

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of techentium-99m tetrofosmin (Tc-TF) scintimammography to detect breast cancer in 32 female Taiwanese patients with indeterminate mammograpic probability of malignancy because of mammographyically dense breasts. All breast masses were removed and final histopathological diagnoses were obtained in all cases. The results showed that Tc-TF scintimammography findings were true-positive in 20 cases, false-positive in 1 case, true-negative in seven cases, and false-negative in four cases. The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 83, 88, and 84%, respectively, for detecting breast cancer in mammographically dense breasts. In conclusion, Tc-TF scintimammography is a useful tool for detecting breast cancer in patients with indeterminate mammograms because of mammographically dense breasts.