Multiple hamartoma syndrome (Cowden's disease).

The four male patients with multiple hamartoma syndrome (Cowden's disease) in this report, have most of the previously reported findings associated with this syndrome and several important unreported findings that include multiple cutaneous trichilemmomas, cafe-au-lait spots, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, pathologic fracture, craniomegaly, probable malignant lung tumor, retinal glioma, drusens of the optic disk and retina, pseudotumor cerebri, mediastinal mass, and multiple small papillomatous lesions of the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum.

High-contrast mammography with a moving grid: assessment of clinical utility.

Mammography techniques using moving grids produce superior breast images in many patients but result in increased radiation dose. This prospective controlled study of 1000 unselected screen-film mammography patients identifies a subset of women who are most likely to benefit from higher-dose grid-assisted techniques. In approximately 60% of the patients, the increased contrast of grid films produced a noticeable improvement in overall image quality. In only 20% of cases did this translate into clinically useful information, however, usually resulting in an increased level of confidence in interpretation. In virtually all the cases in which grid images aided mammographic diagnosis, the patients were women having more than 50% dense fibroglandular tissue or compressed breast thickness greater than 6 cm (only 37% of the study population). We suggest that the use of grid techniques be restricted to patients with such dense or thick breasts, because only in these women can the increase in radiation dose be justified.

Nonpalpable breast lesion localization: limited efficacy of sonography.

We attempted to use hand-held, high-resolution breast sonography to localize for biopsy 11 solid, nonpalpable lesions detected by mammography. Using sonography, we identified and localized only one of four lesions presenting as poorly defined masses and only one of seven lesions presenting as clusters of tiny calcifications. This 18% rate of success is too low to justify the use of sonography for all patients undergoing needle localization. Mammography remains the procedure of choice for localizing solid, nonpalpable breast masses and clustered calcifications.

Baseline screening mammography: one vs two views per breast.

To compare the advantages of one-view vs two-view mammography screening, films were reviewed for 2500 consecutive asymptomatic women undergoing baseline mammography. To provide screening at low cost, examinations were limited to two radiographs per breast, one each in the craniocaudal and mediolateral oblique projections, with the understanding that those few patients with detected abnormalities would require additional mammograms, taken with an individually directed, problem-solving approach, at considerably higher cost. Two separate interpretations were made of each case, one using only the oblique projection images, the other using both oblique and craniocaudal views. Two-view interpretations not only identified more cancers than one-view readings (27 vs 25), they also required fewer additional mammograms to evaluate potential abnormalities (179 vs 642, 7% vs 26%). These advantages outweigh the additional radiation risk and added cost. Baseline screening mammography should be done with two views per breast.

Mammographic screening: how to operate successfully at low cost.

To offer mammographic screening to asymptomatic women at low cost requires a different approach than is appropriate for solving the more complex problems presented by symptomatic patients. Since the goal of screening is to detect unsuspected abnormalities, not to characterize them fully, operational procedures can be streamlined to maximize patient throughput and achieve substantial cost savings. Such procedures will be successful only if applied to large numbers of patients, thereby permitting cost reduction by economies of large-scale operation. Computerization of record-keeping and of image interpretation is ideally suited for screening examinations and permits further cost savings. Experience with a prototype low-cost screening program has shown that with only 15 patients per day, operation is feasible at a charge of $50 per patient. The income lost from asymptomatic patients, who will pay lower fees compared with the traditional mammography fees they now pay, is more than offset by the income generated by additional problem-solving mammograms needed to fully characterize screening-detected abnormalities and by the increased use of needle localization procedures to guide biopsy.

Lateral tibial rim (Segond) fractures: MR imaging characteristics.

The magnetic resonance (MR) imaging characteristics of lateral tibial rim (Segond) fractures and their associated injuries were reviewed in 12 patients with radiographic evidence of this fracture. Bone marrow adjacent to the fracture emitted a focally abnormal MR signal, which indicated an injury of the lateral capsular junction. The Segond fragment, however, was seen on MR images in only four of 12 patients. Associated ligamentous and meniscal injuries identified with MR imaging and arthroscopy involved the anterior (n = 11) and medial (n = 7) cruciate ligaments and the lateral (n = 4) and medial (n = 1) menisci. Focal bone marrow edema was due to injury of the lateral capsular junction. MR imaging evidence of such edema should indicate the presence of a lateral capsular injury and fracture, if one has not already been demonstrated with conventional radiography. A high association of Segond fractures with tears of the anterior cruciate ligament was confirmed, and MR imaging signs of a Segond fracture may therefore be used as indirect evidence for tears of that ligament.