October 12, 2008
A promise unfulfilled
When Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center opened in August 2006, it promised a number of advancements, including state-of-the-art technology. A recent Sentara ad reported that it fulfilled its mission through various innovations, one of which was digital diagnostic imaging.
Yet the Women's Imaging Pavilion still employs analog rather than the most up-to-date digital mammography. Why is this important? The key to cancer survival is early detection.
Unfortunately, analog mammography may be missing breast cancers, particularly for those women with dense breast tissue. Not only are cancerous and non-cancerous tumors difficult to discern against a background of dense breast tissue, breast density in and of itself is also considered to be a risk factor, according to Harvard Women's Health Watch.
Women with dense breasts are 4-6 times more likely to develop breast cancer. One possible reason is that dense breast tissue contains more cells and is therefore more influenced by growth factors and hormones that make cells divide.
Digital mammography is more valuable to these women and to those who are at high risk for developing breast cancer. Johns Hopkins reports that digital mammography can identify breast cancer previously missed on analog mammography because it uses a higher-contrast resolution that provides clearer, bigger, and sharper findings.
Additionally, and very important, digital mammography also allows manipulation of the image to increase visibility. It also simplifies storage and retrieval of images so there is no need to look for films that may have been misplaced or misfiled; and can be sent to or read at remote sites so there is no mailing of X-ray films.
Local women should not be required to travel to Obici Hospital in Suffolk or to Port Warwick in order to obtain a digital mammogram. They deserve and should demand better diagnostic capabilities here in Williamsburg just like Sentara promised.
Lois S. Nervitt
Cancer survivor and founder,
Bosom Buddies of Ford's Colony
Copyright © 2008, The Virginia Gazette
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