Quantitative analysis of breast parenchymal density: Correlation with women's age

Rationale and Objectives. The authors evaluated the relationship between a womans breast parenchymal density and her age by means of a quantitative me thod For measuring density from digitized mammograms. Materials and Methods. The percentage of the breast considered to be dense was evaluated from mammograms of 50 women stratified by age. Quantitative a nalysis based on the computer segmentation of tissue in digitized mammogram s was performed by three expert mammographers. The results of this analysis were compared with results from a review of the film mammograms by three e xpert mammographers, Results. A slight decrease in the percentage of breast considered to be den se with increased age was observed, The average difference in the percentag e of dense breast tissue between the youngest and the oldest age groups was 6.4% based on the digital review acid 14.6% based on the Film review. With in each age group, the total variability was on the order of 75%. Conclusion, The difference in mean magnitude between the youngest and oldes t age groups was small and may not be clinically important. The variability within an age group was large, which suggests that age is not a reliable i ndicator of percentage of dense breast tissue.