Large rodlike calcifications at mammography: analysis of morphologic features.

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to prospectively determine the prevalence and morphologic features of typically benign large rodlike calcifications at mammography and to provide evidence-based data for this descriptor in a future version of the BI-RADS lexicon. In the 1-year period of 2011, large rodlike calcifications were detected in 239 of 7935 (3%) consecutive women undergoing screening or diagnostic mammography. Analysis of morphologic features was performed in 165 of the 239 women (69%; mean age, 71.1 years; range, 39-86 years), who had a minimum number of six calcific particles and in whom benignity was assessed by lack of suspicious change compared with prior mammograms. Two of the 165 women had undergone a mastectomy previously. The mean length of the longest calcification was 4.2 (SD, 2.4) mm (median, 3.5 mm; range, 1-14 mm). The mean width of the widest calcification was 0.6 (SD, 0.5) mm (median, 0.5 mm; range 0.2-3 mm). Bilaterality was found in 131 of 163 women (80.4%) with two breasts, periductal calcifications were found in 18 of 165 women (10.9%), and branching calcifications were found in another 18 women (10.9%). One hundred fifty-five of 165 women (93.9%) had almost entirely fat or scattered areas of fibroglandular tissue; 10 women (6.1%) had heterogeneously dense or extremely dense tissue. Our results partially contradict the current description (size, diameter, and bilaterality versus unilaterality) of large rodlike calcifications in the BI-RADS lexicon. Content for this descriptor should be modified in a future version of the lexicon.