Ruud Pijnappel

Breast Imaging from past till present

This lecture will take you back in time to the last century when mammography was ‘born’. In fact, at that time the restrictions of 2D mammography already came forward. The presentation will take you on a journey that researchers and industry made to overcome the limitations of the original boundaries. From the transition of analogue to digital, the introduction of Tomosynthesis and the shift from anatomical to contrast based imaging. How successful these efforts were is highlighted. Recent technologies with the help of huge computers made the introduction of Artificial Intelligence a fact. Whether this will be the future or just a helping ‘hand’ will be discussed. One thing is for sure Breast Imaging is a dynamic and fast changing subspecialty, but despite this all the wellbeing of our patients remains in the centre of our scope.

How to arrive to a final diagnosis after initial imaging

The pathway from imaging to a final diagnosis can be very troublesome especially for the women involved. This lecture will highlight what we as breast imagers and interventionalists can do to minimize the discomfort and anxiety to patients when an abnormality is discovered on imaging. We should realise ourselves that a final diagnosis as shortly as possible after a discovered abnormality can not only take away a lot of anxiety but also has an influence on reattendance to the screening program. BIRADS-3 and therefore follow-up of a lesion is a no go in case of screening. We should always opt for a final diagnosis. The women have the right to know what the explanation is for the suspicious finding on imaging. Apart from that, knowledge about the risk of underestimation of image guided interventions, is obligatory to choose the right image guidance and biopsy technique to get an optimal pre-treatment diagnosis.