Comparison of breast density at palpation to breast density at mammography

The degree of palpable breast density on physical examination was compared with the breast density on mammograms of 1,000 consecutive patients. Two nurse practitioners palpated each breast and assigned a density value fro 1 (little palpable breast density) to 4 maximal palpable breast density). Seven mammographers, rated the parenchymal density on mammography for each breast, as fatty, mild, moderate, or marked. A low statistical correlation between the two parameters was shown. For example, 37% of markedly dense breasts were rated 1 or 2 on palpation. Thus, breast density by palpation cannot be directly correlated with the density shown at mammography