The postconservation breast: part 1, Expected imaging findings

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this article are to discuss the conventional imaging algorithms after breast-conserving surgery and radiation therapy and to review the expected chronologic imaging appearances of the conservatively treated breast. CONCLUSION: Imaging the treated breast presents challenges because of its limited compressibility and the overlapping features of benign posttreatment alterations and tumor recurrence. After lumpectomy and radiation therapy, mammographic findings such as breast edema, skin thickening, fluid collections, architectural distortion, and calcifications have characteristic sequences of evolution toward stability. Awareness of these normal chronologic imaging findings for the conservatively treated breast minimizes unnecessary recall from screening and permits early detection of recurrent breast carcinoma.