Architectural distortion

Was this a baseline mammogram or have you had mammos before? From reading the posts that come in here, architectural distortion seems to happen quite a lot with first time mammos, when the Radiologist has no previous imaging to compare and to see what is normal for how your breast tissue presents.

Architectural distortion simply means that one area of the breast tissue looks a bit different than the rest. This could be a sign of breast cancer - which is why it needs to be checked out further - but most often is not. In the majority of cases, a follow-up diagnostic mammogram (a magnified view of the suspicious area) and ultrasound (which provides a different way of looking at the area of concern) shows that there's nothing there, and the patient is sent on her way. Hopefully that is your experience tomorrow.

This website explains architectural distortion well: https://breast-cancer.ca/archite-reast-mammo/ It says:

"Breast cancer commonly causes architectural distortion.

Architectural distortion uncommonly indicates cancer. More common is for architectural distortion to be 'imaginary' in the perception of the radiologist."

In other words, while many breast cancers exhibit architectural distortion, most cases of architectural distortion are not breast cancer.

Good luck tomorrow. Let us know how it goes.

I had architectural distortion so US and diagnostic mammo was ordered. The radiologist knew right away that I needed a biopsy. I had one the next day. So if you're worried, just know that if something is amiss you will know almost immediately when they know.

Most often it's nothing, but the great news is if it is something you got to it very early. Do you have dense breast like me? There's always something funky going on with my breasts.

Woohoo! That’s excellent news!