[Possibilities and limitations of the differential diagnosis of grouped intramammary microcalcifications]

In recent years, the first author of the present paper has developed a system for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant lesions based on the radiological patterns of grouped microcalcifications. The value of the system in actual practice has been tested in a "blind" study of 297 mammograms with grouped micro-calcifications in whom the diagnosis had been verified by operation and histology. Use of this system saved 63% of biopsies. Amongst 42 carcinomas, only one was erroneously regarded as benign. The sensitivity of the system in this study was 97.6% and its specificity was 73.3%. The radiological symptoms associated with the correct and false diagnoses have been analysed.