A recent study, to be published in the April 2008 American Journal of Roentgenology, suggests that CAD is useful in screening mammography. The question has been a point of controversy lately, as reported in DOTmed News.

The latest data compares a single reading with CAD to double readings of screening mammography studies. After considering more than 200,000 mammograms, researchers conclude that CAD, compared to double readings, results in lower recall rates, which was the point of contention. CAD enhances the performance of a single reader with only a small increase in recall rate. A previous New England Journal of Medicine study suggested that increased CAD false positives were evidence of inaccuracy, leading some insurers to consider dropping CAD reimbursement at least temporarily.

The new study finds that, compared with a double reading, single-read CAD resulted in a slight increase in sensitivity at a lower recall rate. Double reading increased sensitivity as well as recall rate when compared to a single reading. (The North Carolina radiology group that conducted the study had switched from double reading to a single reading with CAD.)
The larger volume of film-based CAD studies in the newer research may suggest it supersedes the NEJM study.

Read the abstract at:
http://www.ajronline.org/aheadofprint/04_07_2812_WI.pdf

Read DOTmed News coverage of this topic at:
https://www.dotmed.com/news/story/3689
https://www.dotmed.com/news/story/4434/

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