You are seeing this message because your Web browser does not support basic Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing and what you can do to make your experience on this site better.


ABOUT JAMA
Advanced Search

Welcome   | My Account | E-mail Alerts | Access Rights | Sign In


  Vol. 252 No. 21, December 7, 1984 TABLE OF CONTENTS
  JAMA
  •  Online Features
  ARTICLES
 This Article
 •References
 •Full text PDF
 •Send to a friend
 • Save in My Folder
 •Save to citation manager
 •Permissions
 Citing Articles
 •Citation map
 •Citing articles on HighWire
 •Citing articles on Web of Science (8)
 •Contact me when this article is cited
 Related Content
 •Similar articles in JAMA
 Social Bookmarking
  Add to CiteULike Add to Connotea Add to Del.icio.us Add to Digg Add to Reddit Add to Technorati Add to Twitter What's this?

Usefulness of Mammography in the Diagnosis and Management of Breast Disease in Postmenopausal Women

Ana M. Lamas, MD; Ralph I. Horwitz, MD; Dorothea Peck, MD

JAMA. 1984;252(21):2999-3002.


Abstract

We evaluated the clinical usefulness of mammography in postmenopausal women by conducting a "vertical" analysis using indexes of sensitivity and specificity, and a separate "horizontal" analysis assessing the relationship between the mammographic test result and the occurrence of specific clinical management decisions. The patients included 105 women with breast cancer, 104 women with fibrocystic breast disease, and 103 women with clinically benign breasts. Our study confirmed the generally accepted high values reported for the sensitivity and for the specificity of mammography as a test for breast cancer, while also helping to reconcile the widely varying indexes of test efficacy reported in some studies. We also observed that physicians' management decisions vary according to the mammographic interpretation, and include such distinctive clinical strategies as watchful expectancy (observe and follow), repeated mammograms, or breast biopsy. Future studies will need to determine reasons for specific management decisions, especially when they appear to contradict authoritative recommendations.

(JAMA 1984;252:2999-3002)



Author Affiliations

From the Departments of Medicine (Drs Lamas and Horwitz), Diagnostic Radiology (Dr Peck), and Epidemiology (Dr Horwitz), Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.


Footnotes

Reprint requests to Yale University School of Medicine, Room IE-61 SHM, 333 Cedar St, PO Box 3333, New Haven, CT 06510 (Dr Horwitz).



Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Use of Methodological Standards in Diagnostic Test Research: Getting Better but Still Not Good
Reid et al.
JAMA 1995;274:645-651.
ABSTRACT  

Screening for Breast Cancer With Breast Self-examination: A Critical Review
O'Malley and Fletcher
JAMA 1987;257:2196-2203.
ABSTRACT  

Increasing the Effort Toward Breast Cancer Detection
Wertheimer et al.
JAMA 1986;255:1311-1315.
ABSTRACT  





HOME | CURRENT ISSUE | PAST ISSUES | TOPIC COLLECTIONS | CME | SUBMIT | SUBSCRIBE | HELP
CONDITIONS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US | SITE MAP
 
© 1984 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.