Many different types of breast imaging procedures are increasingly proposed to women belonging to a wide range of age groups. The perception of procedure-related risks is growing and there is the need to improve our communication with patients. The aim of this work was to presentsome of the main safety issues in breast imaging: from screening to lesion's detection and imaging characterization. The intended output of this work is to start developing a practical "risk-o-meter" that may help women to understand the iatrogenic risks entailed...

The new safety standard introduced by the European Directive 59/2013/EURATOM clearly promotes a better communication with the patient about the risks related to ionizing radiation, especially in breast imaging with the new weight factor wT increased from 0.05 to 0.12. However, the radiation risk is different in FFDM (Full-Field Digital Mammography) and in DBT (Digital Breast Tomosynthesis) and that should be effectively communicated to patients. The use of CEM (Contrast Enhanced Mammography) introduces additional risk factors related to the administrationof iodinated contrast mediumandto the increased...

Based on dose dataretrieved from our archive, we created a table displaying the AGD in a single FFDM projection varying with age and breast thickness; in thistable, we included a general dose value for each age and thickness range (tab. 1). As shown in table 1, AGD increases with breast thickness anddecreases with age. In order to help communication between clinicians/radiologists and patients, we transformedthe absolute dose results (mGy) in dose percentage variations (tab. 2). We found the modal values of age and breast thickness...

This workis the first step towards the creation ofacomprehensive "risk-o-meter"aimed at facilitating the communicationabout the specificrisks related to each breast imaging modality. Our approach will empower women, allowing them to share with medical doctors the decision about crucial issues concerning their health. It is fundamentaltoensure thatthe patient fully understand theneed to accepta risk (albeit minimal) if one or more examsare necessary to reach a correct senologic diagnosis. However, this work is still in progresssince other risks should be considered to completely discuss allrisk factors thatare...

D. Caramella, G. Aringhieri,C. Sottocornola University of Pisa(University Radiology and Department of Physics) University Hospital of Pisa(AOUP)

1. Covington, M.F., et al., The Future of Contrast-Enhanced Mammography. AJR Am J Roentgenol, 2017: p. 1-9. 2. Di Prete, O., et al., Screening Digital Mammography Recall Rate: Does It Change with Digital Breast Tomosynthesis Experience? Radiology, 2017: p. 170517. 3. James, J.R., et al., Breast Radiation Dose With CESM Compared With 2D FFDM and 3D Tomosynthesis Mammography. AJR Am J Roentgenol, 2017. 208(2): p. 362-372. 4. Mamoulakis, C., et al., Contrast-induced nephropathy: Basic concepts, pathophysiological implications and prevention strategies. Pharmacol Ther, 2017. 180: p....