With breast health as its main focus, the Center for Breast Care at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital is striving to provide a better standard of care for its patients. The recently renovated Center was redesigned to help women discover breast cancer sooner and help treat their diagnosis in a comfortable, caring setting.

Digital mammography is part of the new suite of services being offered at the Center. Digital mammograms are better than film mammograms for detecting anomalies in dense breast tissue. Many younger women and those choosing hormone replacement therapy may have dense breasts. For them, screening with digital mammography provides better visualization of the breast tissue. A computer-aided-detection (CAD) system analyzes the mammogram image and marks suspicious areas for radiologists to review.

The radiologist can manipulate contrast and increase magnification of a breast image to get a better view. The test often goes more quickly because technologists don’t need to work with film. The technologist also can see problems with image exposure or breast positioning in real-time and make adjustments right away, reducing callbacks for mammograms.

On another front, patients at the Center for Breast Care can benefit from improved technology for stereotactic breast biopsies. During the procedure, the patient lies face down on a table specially designed for biopsies. The breast that’s being imaged projects through an opening, and the table is raised for the biopsy to be performed. Then, a hollow needle is passed through the skin and guided exactly to the suspicious area by advanced computer imaging.

Greater precision in identifying the exact location of the anomaly and use of a larger needle allows for fewer “cores,” or tissue samples, to be taken. That means less time for the procedure and less trauma for the patient.

The Center for Breast Care at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital also has new ultrasound technology, GE Healthcare’s Logiq 9™, for imaging the breast. Breast ultrasound is used most often as a diagnostic tool in cases where a breast anomaly can’t be classified using mammography.

New design changes were completed in early summer for the Center for Breast Care.  The Tuscan style décor now focuses on alleviating women’s anxieties by incorporating soothing colors and surroundings to help patients feel at ease.

The Center for Breast Care is located at 11190 Warner Avenue, Suite 214, Fountain Valley and is accredited by the American College of Radiology. It is open 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.