Intra-operative Digital vs. Standard Mammography

A breast biopsy in the operating room may be needed in up to 15% of patients with an abnormality on mammogram. When an abnormality is present but there is no palpable mass, the abnormality must be localized with a wire before going to the operating room. This technique is also used when a breast cancer is present but there is no mass, in order to perform a targeted lumpectomy. Once the abnormality is surgically removed, the specimen with the wire is taken to the breast imaging department for a specimen x-ray to ensure that the targeted abnormality is present within the specimen. If the abnormality is close to the edge of the specimen, additional tissue is often removed. A newer method for evaluating the specimen is to perform imaging in the operating room. Portable digital mammography units are available for this purpose. The Biovision digital specimen mammography system is FDA-approved and currently in use in over 200 centers in the United States. Several studies have shown that intra-operative digital mammography is as accurate as standard specimen mammography and takes less time to perform. It may also decrease the chance of having to go back to the operating room to take more breast tissue after lumpectomy because of cancer cells near teh margin(s) of the specimen on final pathology. Having to go back to the operating room to take more tissue is called a re-excision. The purpose of this study is to compare standard specimen mammography to intra-operative specimen mammography to quantify potential operating room time savings and to determine if the use of intra-operative specimen mammography decreases re-excision rates. We aim to see if intra-operative specimen mammography is more efficient and if it decreases re-excision rates.