Evaluation of the difficulties of the learning process of mammographic readings

Abstract

Breast cancer is the second most frequent type of cancer in the world, being the most common among Brazilian women. Thus, the best way to prevent from such disease is by having mammographic exams regularly. However, the mammographic report does not depend exclusively on the analysis of the physiological factors of the visualized structures and the technical characteristics of the radiologic reception system and the image storage system, but also on the interpretation of the images by the specialist. On this paper, 346 mammographic images were analyzed by radiology residents using a questionnaire elaborated on a previous paper of the team of researchers that bases itself on the BI-RADS™ to characterize the mammographic lesions found. Later, these reports were compared to the reports provided by the staff (specialized physicians), aiming at identifying the level of difficulty of the radiology residents in reporting mammographic exams. Out of the 321 negative reports defined by the staff, the residents matched 292 of them (91%). On the 25 positive cases defined by the staff, the residents matched 13 of them. Regarding the level of complexity of the lesions, the highest percentage of mistakes is found in cases considered of very high complexity. These results highlight the necessity to implement a training method which provides the resident with a better learning method when characterizing mammographic lesions, favoring the premature diagnosis of breast neoplasms.