Gift enhances Piedmont's breast health technology

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The Doris Shaheen Breast Health Center atPiedmont Atlanta Hospital now offers 3-D breast imaging technology thanks to a giftfrom Doris and Shouky Shaheen to purchase two Tomosynthesis units.

Doris and Shouky Shaheen

The Tomosynthesis 3-dimensional imaging units take better images of thebreast interior, decreasing the number of "false positive" diagnosesand increasing the chances of early detection of cancer.

Piedmont Atlanta is one of few hospitals in thearea offering the new technology. Breast tomosynthesis allows doctors toexamine breast tissue one layer at a time, building what is essentially a3-dimensional mammogram.

"While digital mammography is still one ofthe most advanced technologies today, it's only a 2-dimensional picture of thebreast," said Handel Reynolds, M.D. F.A.C.R, radiologist at the DorisShaheen Breast Health Center at Piedmont Atlanta.
"The overlap of normal tissue in a standard mammogram can result intwo types of errors: false positive readings where there is the appearance of atumor that isn't actually there, and false negative readings where true canceris obscured by the overlapping normal tissue and is missed," Reynoldsexplained.

The tomosynthesis 3-dimensional imaging unitdonated by Doris and Shouky Shaheen reduces this problem by producing a seriesof contiguous thin slices of breast tissue that have minimal distractingoverlap, allowing a better image of the breast interior and improving chancesof early detection.

According to the American Cancer Society, aboutone in eight women (12 percent) will develop invasive breast cancer duringtheir lifetime. Over 232,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expectedto be diagnosed in 2013. Survival rates, however, have continued to increasedue to early detection, increased awareness and improved treatment options. Atthis time, there are more than 2.9 million breast cancer survivors in theUnited States.

"Early detection is the key to winning thebattle over breast cancer," said Dr. Reynolds. "Doris Shaheen - abreast-cancer survivor herself - continues to support Piedmont in our effortsto offer our patients the best technology available.”

The center was named in honor of Doris Shaheenin 2004 after her husband Shouky’s major donation funded the breast healthprogram. The center was the first breast health facility in Georgia to beaccredited in all its modalities-including mammography, ultrasound and stereotacticbiopsy.