Digital mammography comes to the region

People in the Pikes Peak region at risk of breast cancer have a better chance of discovering the disease early as area health care providers move to digital mammography machines.

The technology replaces film and enables radiologists to make more accurate assessments of patients' breasts. Digital mammography has been available to military families through the Air Force Academy and Peterson Air Force Base for more than a year, but it wasn't until recently the technology became available at other places.

Pikes Peak Regional Hospital, in Teller County, bought a digital mammography machine when it opened in October. Memorial Health System and Penrad Imaging in Colorado Springs recently bought multiple machines.

Penrad has three machines at its central Springs location that were recently installed and will be available for patients in about two weeks, and it plans to bring digital mammography to an additional location it will open in August at the site of the new St. Francis Hospital at Woodmen Road and Powers Boulevard. Memorial's machines are at its Briargate imaging center and outpatient radiology and breast care centers at its Printers Parkway location near Memorial Park.

The difference between film and digital mammography is similar to that in photography: Digital mammography delivers sharper images and allows the user to manipulate those images.

But unlike a personal camera, the advantages in detecting cancer go far beyond fixing red eyes or cropping strangers out of the background.

With a better view, radiologists are likely to catch breast cancer sooner than with film images. It is especially effective in detecting abnormalities in breasts with dense tissue, said Trudie Layton, director of medical imaging.

Early detection means a greater likelihood of survival.

Patients might also be able to avoid more invasive procedures such as biopsies because the digital look might rule out noncancerous tissue or marks that would have been questionable on a film image, said Susan A. Bell, vice president of marketing and contracting for Penrad. Penrad's machines rely on different technology that require less radiation than Memorial's and Pikes Peak Regional's.

"It's a tremendous advancement for those of us that receive mammograms knowing that the best images are going to be acquired," she said.

Colorado Springs was ranked seventh in the nation for breast cancer deaths in 2004 among the most populous cities, according to a study by the National Association of County and City Health Officials' 2007 Big Cities Health Inventory.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed and second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Mammography exams, film or digital, can reduce the mortality rate among women 50 to 69 by more than a third and women 40 to 49 by a fifth, the CDC says.

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