Abstract
Currently, age is not considered in the diagnostic criteria for calcifications or indications for biopsy. Because mastopathy, a benign micro-calcification, is significantly associated with patient age, it is an important diagnostic factor. To evaluate the importance of age in the diagnosis of calcifications, calcified lesions above category 2 without any associated findings were analyzed in subjects according to age (30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, and 70 or older). The number of subjects, the recall rates for calcification findings, the biopsy rates, positive predictive values (PPV), the cancer detection rate, non-cancerous lesions, and ratio of each lesion were investigated. The rates of workup required to identify calcifications were high in women in their 30s to 50s, and low in those in their 60s and over. The PPV tended to be high in those in their 60s and over. The most common non-cancerous lesion was mastopathy (81.0%), which began to increase in the fifth decade, and decreased abruptly after 65. A higher PPV was confirmed among those aged 60 years or older because of the low frequency of mastopathy. As with dense masses in fatty breasts commonly seen among the elderly, categorical diagnosis considering patient age and mammary gland background, and criteria for biopsy were deemed important in the diagnosis of calcifications.
