Review of clinical studies and first clinical experiences with a commercially available cone-beam breast CT in Europe.

The dedicated cone-beam breast computed tomography (CBBCT) is a new and promising imaging modality which provides isotropic, 3D images of the breast with high spatial and contrast resolution. Non-contrast and contrast-enhanced CBBCT (CE-CBBCT) was superior to mammography for the visualization of breast masses, especially in patients with dense breast tissue. CE-CBBCT accurately detects DCIS and distinguishes it from benign causes of microcalcifications when compared with non-contrast CBBCT and mammography. The purpose of this report is to describe the technology and its possible indications, and to present the first results from recent clinical studies, illustrating these with our own image examples.