Revealing artifacts in contrast-enhanced mammography: prevalence and implications for diagnostic accuracy

Distinguishing and evaluating the incidence and impact of contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) artifacts and pitfalls can be challenging. The purpose of this study is to comprehensively analyze the frequency of CEM's artifacts and compare the detection rates between two operators with differing experience levels.

Between January 2020 to December 2023, we conducted a retrospective review of 201 patients who underwent CEM. We evaluated patient-related artifacts, contrast agent-related artifacts, technical artifacts and pitfalls, estimating the incidence of each. CEM evaluations were carried out by a senior breast radiologist with 30 years of experience [Master (M)] and a radiology resident with 1 year of training in breast radiology [Alumn (A)]. Interobserver agreement was measured using Cohen's Kappa coefficient, and overall concordance was further assessed through Spearman's rank correlation analysis.

Two hundred and one female patients with a mean age of 58.03 years (standard deviation ±12.29 years) were enrolled. The incidence of patient-related artifacts was higher for A compared to M (6.5% vs. 0.5%). The incidence of contrast agent-related artifacts was higher for M compared to A (1% vs. 0.5%). Concerning technical artifacts, in skin line artifacts the incidence was higher for A than M (65.2% vs. 43.8%) and in negative contrast enhancement artifacts the incidence was higher for M than A (47.8% vs. 14.9%). Among pitfalls, the widest range of percentage variability was seen in blind areas on CEM and in false positive benign lesions where A showed higher incidence compared to M (27.4% vs. 2% and 20.9% vs. 13.4%, respectively).

This study highlights the high frequency and variability of CEM artifacts, particularly technical and interpretative ones, with detection rates differing notably by reader experience. Less experienced readers tended to overidentify skin line artifacts and blind areas. These findings emphasize the need for standardized training and interpretation protocols to improve diagnostic consistency in CEM.