St. John's Health Center Expands Mammography Unit

By Lookout Staff

In an effort to better serve members of the community Saint John's Health Center has doubled the size of its mammography services.

The hospital, which performs some 12,000 mammograms a year, has added three more mammography units, bringing the total to six. The additional units are expected to double the available volume of mammograms conducted at the health center.

"In addition to adding the units to increase the number of women we can serve, we are also in the process of refurbishing the center, including redecorating the patient areas," said Jean Westmacott, director of imaging for Saint John's Health Center.

The $1 million expansion was completed over 18 months. Before the expansion, patients sometimes found themselves waiting for mammograms.

"Doubling the number of units will help improve access to the imaging," Westmacott said. "Furthermore, we've streamlined our imaging operations to make the entire process more efficient for all of our patients."

The hospital has also introduced a digital mammography system and computer assisted stereotatic core needle biopsy equipment. The equipment makes early detection and accurate diagnosis of breast cancer easier and safer, according to R. James Brenner, M.D., a breast imaging specialist at St. John's Health Center.

The new machine allows doctors to obtain biopsies or tissue samples without having to perform a conventional surgery.

Regular self-breast exams, physician physical exams, mammograms and ultrasounds all help in the early detection of breast cancer, but they cannot determine if an abnormal breast mass is cancerous or benign. Physicians have traditionally depended on surgical biopsy of the mass for diagnosing cancer. Studies have shown that as few as 20 percent of surgical biopsy cases are performed on cancerous breast tissue.

The new stereotactic equipment provides a minimally invasive method of obtaining a breast biopsy diagnosis. With stereotactic biopsy, patients can be evaluated for malignancy without a conventional surgical biopsy.

In the United States an estimated 175,000 new cases of breast cancer are reported each year, according to the American Cancer Society. Of those cases, approximately 45,000 women will die from the disease. Early detection and treatment, before the disease spreads to other parts of the body, can increase the chance for survival to better than 90 percent.

Mammograms and self-breast exams are the best method to detect breast cancer as well as other abnormalities of the breast.

Women between the ages of 40 and 49 should have regular mammogram screenings every year or two, depending on their risk factors. Women 50 and over should have a mammogram once a year.