Would an x-ray see scar tissue from radiation?

rdeesides

Hoping DJMammo can jump in. I just had breast reconstruction, following mastectomy, TEs and radiation. I have a very hard lump on the far upper inner quadrant of my cancer breast. I had an x-ray immediately following reconstruction. If this was something sinister, would an x-ray catch it? Haven’t had a chance to ask doctor. It’s probably scar tissue but just curious if they would have caught it if it was something else

djmammo

rdeesides

1) Timing is an issue in answering this question. Scar tissue takes a while to develop. A recurrence also takes time to develop. Radiation changes take a while to become visible on mammo. A hematoma can come up pretty rapidly after surgery.

2) If the palpable lump is in the field of view it should be visible on the mammogram.

3) If this is a new lump an US is indicated regardless of timing.

rdeesides

Thank you DjMammo,

I actually had a Chest CT prior to this recon surgery and the hard knot was already there so they should have seen if this was a tumor, right? The knot appeared after my tissue expander placement in jan 2018 but it has gotten worse after radiation and now reconstruction in Dec 2018.

Rebekah

djmammo

rdeesides

That additional history changes the possibilities a bit since now, as its been present over a year. How much longer than a year?

The CT may show the mass but is not the best to characterize it. Read the CT report to see if its mentioned. If not ask for it to be reviewed. Find its size, and if everyone is concerned about it have an US and compare the sizes.