Breast Density

Breast density, or fibroglandular density, is found through breast imaging and varies based on the amount of fat to the amount of connective tissue. About 50 percent of women have what is referred to as dense breasts, where the tissue appears white on mammograms and can hide cancers, which also appear white. Women with very dense breasts may need to undergo supplemental imaging that can see through dense breast tissue, such as breast ultrasound, breast MRI or nuclear imaging. Many U.S. states now have legislation requiring radiologists to inform patients if they have dense breasts. Some states also now require insurance companies to cover supplemental imaging  in these patients. Breast density is graded into 4 classes, or BI-RAD scores, to explain the level of density in the radiology report.