Radiology

I have just been for several tests and am due to have a biopsy after Surgery.  I would like to know what the radiologist looks for in the x ray of the chest area.- my mammogram came through with lots of pleomorphic calcifications, lumps etc etc, and when I asked the radiologist if she could see anything that had shown up on the mammogram, she said all was fine - so I am now confused, are these two totally seperate tests? is the x ray to show what is behind the lumps?
Thanks.

[Fernando Roque, MD]

Hi.  The mammogram is basically an x-ray picture of your breasts, while the chest x-ray intends to give a picture of the other structures found in the chest such as the heart, lungs and ribs.  When looking for evidence of cancer, a chest x-ray is also frequently requested because the lungs are a frequent site of metastatic spread by cancer cells coming from other body areas, and needs to be checked.  It is possible to have lumps showing up on a mammogram while the chest x-ray is clear.  It just means that the breast lump, if cancerous, may not have spread out of the breast yet.

[DrBhumikaMD]

Hi,
The pleomorphic calcifications on your mammogram are tiny specks of calcium deposits in your breast tissue and need to be investigated further to rule out a malignancy. You will probably be advised a biopsy by your physician. On the other hand a normal chest xray essentially means that there is no lung or bony cage lesion present. Discuss in detail with your physician about what he thinks would be the next best step in your case in view of the mammogram findings. Have you noticed any lump or any other abnormal feature on breast self exam? Goodluck.