galactography

{{Short description|Form of breast imaging}}

{{Infobox diagnostic

| name = Galactography

| image = Full-field digital (FFD)-galactography and Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT)-galactography.png

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| caption = Full-field digital (FFD)-galactography (left) and Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT)-galactography (right) showing intraductal papilloma.

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| purpose =diagnostic procedure for viewing the milk ducts.

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| synonyms = Ductography

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Galactography or ductography (or galactogram, ductogram) is a medical diagnostic procedure for viewing the milk ducts. The procedure involves the radiography of the ducts after injection of a radiopaque substance into the duct system through the nipple. The procedure is used for investigating the pathology of nipple discharge.

Galactography is capable of detecting smaller abnormalities than mammograms, MRI or ultrasound tests. With galactography, a larger part of the ductal system can be visualized than with the endoscopic investigation of a duct (called galactoscopy or ductoscopy).

Causes for nipple discharge include duct ectasia, intraductal papilloma, and occasionally ductal carcinoma in situ or invasive ductal carcinoma.{{cite book|author1=William E. G. Thomas|author2=Norbert Senninger|title=Short Stay Surgery|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=98ayAtsiasMC&pg=PA136|date=1 February 2008|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-540-69028-3|pages=136}}

The standard treatment of galactographically suspicious breast lesions is to perform a surgical intervention on the concerned duct or ducts: if the discharge clearly stems from a single duct, then the excision of the duct (microdochectomy) is indicated;{{cite book|author1=Nigel Rawlinson|author2=Derek Alderson|title=Surgery: Diagnosis and Management|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fxbDsuew0IkC&pg=PA219|date=29 September 2010|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-9122-0|pages=219}} if the discharge comes from several ducts or if no specific duct could be determined, then a subareolar resection of the ducts (Hadfield's procedure) is performed instead.

To avoid infection, galactography should not be performed when the nipple discharge contains pus.{{cite web|url=http://radiopaedia.org/articles/breast-ductography-1|title=Breast ductography|publisher=radiopaedia.org|accessdate=4 November 2014}}