Though the mainstay of breast investigations is the mammogram, especially in screening programs for the over 40s age group, breast ultrasounds still have a very important function. In simple terms, a breast ultrasound is most often done to find out if a lesion found by a mammogram or by a physical examination of the breast may be a cyst filled with fluid (usually benign) or is solid (which may be non-cancerous, but also potentially cancerous). It is particularly useful if:

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• You have particularly dense breast tissue

• You are under the age of 40

• You are pregnant

• You have breast implants

 

Breast ultrasounds also give us the opportunity:

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• To look at the nearby lymph nodes

• To cary out guided needle biopsies

• To remove fluid from cysts

 

Note: a breast ultrasound may still need to be followed by a mammogram or an MRI if the radiologist deems it necessary.