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Each year in the United States, almost 180,000 women are told that they have breast cancer. Osteoporosis, a debilitating disease that over time causes bones to become fragile and more prone to breaks, affects thousands of women nationwide.
The Center for Breast Care and Bone Health at Northwest Hospital, part of the Alvin & Lois Lapidus Cancer Institute, offers the most advanced diagnosis and treatment in the Baltimore region for diseases of both the breast and the bone. Using state-of-the-art mammography, diagnostic breast ultrasound equipment and stereotactic biopsy, physicians can make an accurate diagnosis. Both mammography and bone densitometry are used to detect the onset of disease at the earliest stages.
Women with no symptoms or identifiable problems related to the breast could choose to have a screening mammogram, which is interpreted by a board-certified radiologist. Diagnostic mammograms are performed on women with a sign or symptom of a breast problem, a suspicious screening mammogram, personal history of breast cancer, and for women with breast implants.
Other diagnostic services are available. Ultrasound procedures using sound waves to distinguish the physical makeup of a lump detected through mammography or breast examination determine if the lump is cystic or possibly cancerous. Minimally invasive core needle breast tissue biopsies can be performed using stereotactic equipment.
Osteoporosis, which causes women to lose up to 20 percent of their total bone mass in the first five to seven years following meno- pause, may be reversed if detected early. A safe, quick and noninvasive bone density test, available at the The Herman and Walter Samuelson Breast Care Center at Northwest Hospital, helps measure bone mineral density of the lumbar spine, hips and forearms. Experts interpret results based on comparative data from the National Osteoporosis Foundation according to age, ethnicity and weight.
For more information about the Northwest Hospital Center for Breast Care and Bone Health or to make an appointment, call 410-601-WELL (9355).
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Herman and Walter Samuelson Breast Care Center at Northwest
Hospital
Alvin & Lois Lapidus Cancer Institute
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