How do radiographers compare to radiologists when double reading screening mammograms

Excerpt

Since January 1998, three experienced mammographic radiographers have been trained in image interpretation and analysis at the Nottingham National Training Centre. Since this time, these three radiographers have been acting as second readers of screening mammograms. Prior to this, screening mammograms were single reported by a consultant radiologist. The radiographers and radiologists report the films blind to the opinion of the other reader. In cases of disagreement between the two readers, a consensus decision is made at a weekly meeting of all the screen readers. To date, 2200 women have been recalled for further assessment having had their mammograms double reported in this way. We will present our complete results following these assessments, which show the trained radiographers to be as competent as the radiologists as screen readers. There is no statistical difference in the recall rates or cancer detection of the radiographers compared to radiologists. …