Potential of dose reduction after marker placement with full-field digital mammography

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of our study was to assess the potential for radiation dose reduction in digital postinterventional digital mammograms after marker placement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred consecutive cases of marker placement (hook-wire localization or postbiopsy clip marker placement), with 200 full-field digital baseline mammograms (craniocaudal and mediolateral), were included in this prospective trial. For the postinterventional digital mammograms, the milliampere seconds were reduced either by 50% or by 75%. Dose-reduced images were evaluated for sufficient image quality to verify the position of the marker. RESULTS: In 193 of 200 cases (96.5%), image quality was sufficient to verify the correct position of the marker. One (1%) case with insufficient image quality occurred in the 50% dose-reduction group and 6 (6%) in the 75% dose-reduction group (P = 0.06). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that under evaluation of each individual case, a dose reduction of 50% to 75% can be recommended in postinterventional digital mammograms.