Digital luminescence mammography. Early clinical experience.

In a pilot study, mammography using digital luminescence was compared to conventional film-screen mammography regarding detectability of micro-calcifications and malignant tumors. The data processing algorithms were designed by the manufacturer to produce an image with characteristics close to conventional mammograms. Three observers reviewed 99 digital and their corresponding conventional mammograms. There was no difference in the detectability of micro-calcifications between digital and conventional mammography. On the digital mammograms, however, artifacts were misjudged as micro-calcifications. In an ROC analysis regarding malignant breast tumors, no significant difference was found between the 2 systems. There was a slight, but not significant, difference between the results of different observers regarding the digital system.