Real-time transillumination light scanning of the breast

Our experience with real-time transillumination of the breast is positive and shows considerable promise for this modality. The examination is simple, relatively inexpensive, and well accepted by patients. We have been successful in imaging the breasts of women with dense and dysplastic tissue in whom mammography had been of limited value. Lack of ionizing radiation allows frequent followup of suspicious lesions. Our data show that the sensitivity and specificity of transillumination light scanning are similar to those of mammography in the population we have studied. Our results show considerably greater sensitivity than was achieved with transillumination by Sickles (12); they are in general agreement with other recently published results of transillumination using equipment similar to our own (1, 19), however. We have been able to find nonpalpable lesions not seen on mammography in several patients. Using mammography and transillumination together, 90% of cancers were identified. Currently, sufficient data are not available to document the ability of transillumination to detect preclinical carcinoma of the breast, particularly the small cancers manifested only by microcalcification on mammography. Additional data are being collected to allow this question to be addressed. At the present time, we view transillumination as a valuable adjunct to physical examination and mammography in the evaluation of both asymptomatic patients and those with symptoms of breast disease.