Contrast-Enhanced Spectral Mammography (CESM)

Cooper Breast Imaging team offers patients Contrast Enhanced Spectral Mammography (CESM)—an advanced breast imaging technique that combines conventional digital mammography with the intravenous injection of an iodinated contrast agent to highlight areas of increased blood flow, which may indicate cancer. 

With CESM, Cooper breast imagers can provide answers sooner regarding the presence or absence of breast cancer and minimize the wait time and worry for a patient anxious to get test results.

Benefits of CESM

• Simple, quick, 10-15 minute procedure that is much like a regular mammography exam.
• Exam can be conducted without having to wait for a pre-authorization from insurance companies.
• Cuts the critical patient wait time from detection to diagnosis.

How is CESM exam performed?

The CESM imaging study is done using the same positioning techniques as a regular mammography exam. It is performed on the same imaging system, in the same room and often with the same staff.

The difference is that, just before your exam, you will be injected with a small amount of a non-ionic contrast media that will help highlight specific details in the images of your breasts.

After the injection, a two-minute waiting period is necessary to give the contrast time to flow to the breast. Then the images will be taken. That’s all there is to it.

The images can be viewed by the radiologist almost immediately.  This enables the radiologist to make informed decisions quickly and confidently which means your physician will get results faster.

In addition to being used as a follow up to a suspicious mammogram, CESM can also be used in high-risk patients with dense breasts, for preoperative planning of a known breast cancer, to identify a suspicious finding on clinical breast exam that doesn’t show up in a mammogram or ultrasound, or when a patient is unable to undergo an MRI scan.

*Be sure to tell your doctor or an imaging center staff member if you’ve ever had an allergic reaction to non-ionic contrast agent.