Architectural Distortion

Did the mammogram actually pick up a "mass" with an architectural distortion? If so, then you might want to ask if the shape is "spiculated" or "indistinct" as opposed to oval, round, etc. I would expect that an ultrasound tech would do the procedure and may or may not call the radiologist into the room at the time depending on what's seen on the ultrasound and the availability of the radiologist. A radiologist will then assign a Bi-rad number to the ultrasound findings indicating the level of suspicion for a malignancy.

And I agree . . . the more you appear to have a grasp and familiarity of some of the terminology; the more information and conversation there may be from medical staff. I am sorry you are going through all this. The testing and waiting for results is always unnerving. Hopefully, they are just being extra cautious and you will get a good report.

You report is almost identical to my first one, although they used the word 'questionable' instead of suspect. Suspect means that they have to keep going to find out exactly what they are looking at. Suspect indicates that the area looks a little different from the other part of the tissue. I think it's good that they are being thorough and asking you to do the additional imaging. When I did the 2nd spot compression, my area was still vague not fully dissipating. As yours it was in the cc view. So I did the 2nd ultrasound and nothing correlated. The radiologist then recommended a breast MRI which also came back clean. But because there has been a vague ad in my breast for the past 6 months, the next step is core biopsy guided by mammogram. I hope your next screening gives you positive feedback. Keep us posted.

You are so right that having the right questions going into a meeting is much better than coming out with questions coming out or afterwards. The answers above are very relevant and we're glad you have had a great quality response from our members (as usual).

Knowledge is power and we hope it follows the "umbrella principle - if you have it, you won't need it" and your results are benign. Having the knowledge is so important, as is someone with you, if possible, for both moral support and as another pair of ears to hear what is said and discuss afterwards. Also, hopefully, someone to celebrate a reiving benign result.

We wish you the best

The Mods

Hi, I have had an architectural distortion / radial scar /complex sclerosing lesion for 4 years now that they've been testing and watching. I have had 2 biopsies where they aspirated the cells and showed no evidence of malignancy. They put those little clips in there after each biopsy to mark where the biopsies happened.

I had my diagnostic 3D mammogram yesterday and just like every year, they took more mammogram images. Then the tech did an ultrasound for a long time and then the doctor came and did one for like 15 minutes. I will be having my 3rd biopsy on Monday. 😕

The doctor said he's never seen this situation before in his 20 years. I was watching his face and when he got to the suspicious area he took a deep breath. He said "man, I just don't know what to do. I mean you've been at this for 4 years now. It's not changed on the mammogram which means it doesn't appear to be growing and that's a good thing. But I can't explain it and I just can't say if it's cancer or not. I have to biopsy it again. The marker is not where it should be but they can also move so I can't say for sure that they've gotten cells from the actual area or not. I could surgically remove it, but that would take a month or longer to get scheduled and it's more invasive. I could do an MRI but that can give us false positives all over the breasts that we'd be chasing bc an MRI picks up everything and you have a very dense breast. We really a need pathology. I think we should do another biopsy and go from there. I don't think it's cancer, my gut really says its not but I can't say for sure without more data"

When I asked if this biopsy was going to be definitive (bc the other 2 produced a Birad 3 instead of 2), he said "I hope so"

So now. I'm back at a Birad 4. They said 7 cm, but I'm not sure if that means the area is 7cm or if the area is located 7cm from the nipple. I remember last year the size was 3.2cm and they used the word spiculated. I have heterogeneously dense breasts (4).

What questions should I ask? Should I get a second opinion? His face showed concern. I wish I had asked him what specifically he hadn't seen in his 20 years and if it was still the same size on us and if it was still apiculated. Does he mean the radial scar, I know it's rare but certainly he's seen a radial scar in his lifetime?