HOW IS GALACTOGRAPHY PERFORMED?

Galactography does not require any special preparation.

Approximately 18-25 milk ducts open into each nipple. The duct used for galactography must be free of discharge on the day of the examination to prevent medication being administered to the wrong duct. In other words, if there is no discharge, galactography is not appropriate. In that case, an X-ray of any of the ducts would be taken, but the goal is to see the inside of the duct causing the discharge in detail.

A mammogram is taken to reveal the inside of the duct by injecting a small amount of contrast material into the duct from the nipple with discharge.

A filling defect (areas not filled with the medication) usually indicates a small mass. Most of these are papillomas. Some papillomas can develop into cancer and should be removed. Less than 10 percent of filling defects are caused by cancer. Galactography also aids surgical planning by indicating the location of the tumor within the duct.