Should Women Get Digital Mammograms Instead of Conventional Mammograms?
Dr. Daniel Kopans answers the question: 'Should I Get a Digital Mammogram?'
— -- Question: Should women get digital mammograms instead of conventional mammograms?
Answer: Every woman over the age of 40 should have a mammogram every year. The data clearly show that we can save a significant number of lives if women come in conscientiously on an annual basis and have a mammogram. A digital mammogram is just another way of doing mammography at this point. It's no better and no worse than a film screen mammogram. There are advantages that don't have anything to do at this point with finding breast cancer -- that we as radiologists like the digital mammogram because they're easier to file, they're easier to retrieve, and somewhat easier to look at. But for a woman it doesn't make a difference at this point. There will be new developments in mammography that will come about because we have digital mammograms but those are several years away.
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