Do breast implants affect mammogram results?

Yes: While there are special techniques to try and visualize as much of the breast tissue as possible, implants do partially obstruct full evaluation of the breast. This is particularly true when the implants are placed above the pectoralis muscle; it is always best to place these behind the muscle.

Yes: Implants placed above the pectoralis major muscle can preclude a thorough evaluation of your breasts with a mammogram. Implants placed beneath the muscle can allow for a better evaluation of the breast tissue. Mri evaluation is recommended every other year if you have silicone gel implants.

Yes: Studies show that implants cause breast cancer to be detected at later stages than without implants. But implants can decrease breast cancer by around 4 fold. For information see www.Thenakedtruthaboutbreastimplants.Com.

Yes but not survival: Yes. In fact special views are required for patients with implants to increase the ability to visualize the amount of breast tissue that may be obscured by the implants. The good news is that the implants have not been shown to effect survival of patients with breast cancer who have had implants previously placed.

Yes: Especially if they are above-the-muscle. Even with behind-the-muscle implants, it's harder to see everything. Other imaging methods - like ultrasound or MRI - are very useful to see these parts of the breast.

Yes: Twice as many views are are required for women with implants, because special implant displacement views are also performed in all 4 projections, for a total of 8 views. The benefits of mammography still outweigh the risks in women with implants, however.