What does "subtle changes in tissue characteristics" mean after youve !
Question: What does "subtle changes in tissue characteristics" mean after youve gotten the results from a mammogram?
Answers:
IMV the nurse was out of line to say deodorant or anything like that. The report would specifically mention "deodorant artifact" and request repeat views without the deodorant. Nurses and medical assistants can get in some legal trouble for giving patients assumptions like that.
That being said, subtle changes are just that. The breasts, like all our organs, are not '"static" organs. they all change with time. Some breasts change according to where the woman is in her menstrual cycle.
Some findings warrant a follow-up right away, and some need a follow-up in time, like 6 months.
The vast majority of cases like this end up being nothing. Support your friend but don't let her get crazy about it (read: YOU don't get crazy about it. ;) )
32 years in breast imaging. I am a mammographer. I have also had additional views and 6 month followup mammograms. :)
According to the American Cancer Society, when breast tissue is examined under a microscope some type of abnormality is common in nine out of every ten women.
Some women experience changes to their breast tissue over their lifetime. These changes can include an increase in the number of breast cells (hyperplasia) or the emergence of atypical breast cells (atypical hyperplasia). In some instances, a portion of breast tissue that exhibits abnormal characteristics can eventually develop into a cancerous tumor. That is why physicians carefully monitor patients with abnormal breast cells.