My radiologist took extra pictures on one side during routine mammagram, should i be worried?

Mammogram: Try not to worry. It is not unusual to take extra xrays if an area of the breast is not well defined or needs clarification. Your doctor will discuss this with you if there is a problem.

Dr Shirazi agreed

No: Up to 20% of women will require extra views from a screening mammogram and a small percentage of those will go on to biopsy, and an even smaller number of biopsies will turn out to be cancer. Anytime you take a 3-d object such as a breast, and make a 2-d image, structures can overlap and cause the illusion of a tumor. Additional views are sometimes taken to prove or disprove overlap of densities.

Dr Ferdowsi and another doctor agreed

No: Numerous women need to get extra views to clarify findings seen on the initial images. Most of the time, overlapping structures can cause artifacts - new images help clear this up. If the finding persists, the next step would be possibly a regular interval follow-up or biopsy.

It is normal: to be concerned, but the odds are in your favor. About 10% of the time a screening mammo will show a potential abnormality requiring extra imaging. 80% of the time, after the extra views, it turns out to be nothing of concern. Of the remainder that go to biopsy, 80% of those turn out benign.