Optimización de la calidad de imagen en la mamografía analógica y su comparación con la mamografía digital.

Introduction. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the quality of screening images in full field digital mammography (FFDM) systems located in the Mexico City metropolitan area, and compare it with an optimized film-screen mammography (FSCM) system. In Mexico, the current rate of mortality due to breast cancer constitutes a public health problem and has become the leading cause of death among Mexican women. The primary purpose of mammography is to facilitate detection of breast cancer at an early stage of its natural history. Material and methods. Sampling was performed at 10 mammography services that use full field digital mammography systems of different makes and models. Also, a mammography service with an optimized film-screen mammography system was included. Image quality was evaluated with a manikin and with the American College of Radiology (ACR) scoring system. Discussion. In the evaluation of image quality, FFDM systems obtained lower scores than the FSCM system. Two FFDM systems had image quality lower than that established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and by the ACR. Of the images from the FFDM systems, 40% present artifacts and lack of uniformity during acquisition, processing, or printing; these are the main quality issues in images from FFDM systems. Conclusion. In general, film-age quality in the FSCM system, with a quality control program, was equal or superior to that obtained in FFDM systems without a quality control program. The average glandular dose (AGD) was below the 3.0 mGy limit for both systems (FSCM and FFDM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]