Breast examination

Commonly used breast examination methods include visual inspection, palpation, ultrasound examination, mammography, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), puncture biopsy of the lesion, etc.; ductoscopy (FDS) is the latest method for examining lesions in the breast ducts.

1. Inspection and palpation

It is best to do it 3-7 days after the end of menstruation. You can do it by yourself or by having a specialist check it out to understand the size of both breasts, skin appearance and elasticity, whether there are lumps, whether there is nipple discharge, whether there are enlarged lymph nodes in the armpits, etc.

2. Molybdenum Target Photography

Mammography is the only breast cancer screening tool that has been proven to be effective in reducing mortality. It has certain advantages in distinguishing benign and malignant lesions and detecting early breast cancer. It can detect breast cancer with calcification as the main manifestation, which is often early breast cancer, especially DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ). Mammography can accurately detect and describe calcification in detail, and can diagnose asymptomatic or untouchable breast lesions. It is particularly suitable for people with breast atrophy, fewer glands or fatty glands, but it is not good for young women with dense glands (gland density>70%).

3. Ultrasound examination

The most commonly used and trustworthy breast examination. Convenient! Fast! Non-invasive! Can be repeated many times! It has a high accuracy in diagnosing various breast diseases such as breast hyperplasia, acute and chronic mastitis, benign and malignant breast nodules, etc. Moreover, ultrasound examination is suitable for all types of glands, including dense glands in young women (glandular density>70%).

4. MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)

It can quickly obtain high-precision images of the internal structure of the breast, and is more suitable for the examination of multiple small lesions in the breast, lesions that are located deep and close to the chest wall, and patients with implanted prostheses. Therefore, when ultrasound and mammography are highly suspicious of lesions, MRI examinations can be further performed.

5. Biopsy of the lesion

When a breast lesion is suspected to be malignant, a puncture biopsy can be performed. It is a minimally invasive examination and the "gold standard" for diagnosing breast cancer.

6. Breast ductoscopy (FDS)

FDS is the latest examination method for lesions in the milk ducts, providing a new auxiliary diagnosis and treatment method for patients with nipple discharge. FDS has the characteristics of simple operation, minimally invasive, and direct observation of lesions, which basically solves the problem of etiology diagnosis of nipple discharge.