Baylor Dallas News

(DALLAS, TEXAS, Oct. 7, 2009) – The Darlene G. Cass Women’s Imaging Center at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas was recently named as one of five “Top Women’s Imaging Centers to Watch in 2009” nationwide by Imaging Technology News. The five recognized centers were selected based on their achievements in innovation, operational efficiency, customer service and teamwork.

“We have been a leader in breast imaging in the Dallas area for 25 years and are committed to staying at the forefront of breast imaging by using advanced technology and offering quality care and customer service,” said Mark Fulmer, M.D., radiologist on the medical staff at Baylor Dallas and medical director of the Darlene G. Cass Women’s Imaging Center.

New tools improve detection

The center has two locations providing comprehensive diagnostic and interventional procedures. The facility on the Baylor Dallas campus offers breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), one of the more recent tools for breast cancer detection. Breast MRI can assist physicians in finding cancers that can be missed by mammography and ultrasound. 

Another new tool for better detection of breast cancer, positron emission mammography (PEM), will be available at the center by the end of the year. This powerful technology helps characterize the scope of cancer by measuring glucose metabolism. Used in conjunction with standard breast imaging techniques, PEM can provide unique information that will help the physician and patient make more informed treatment decisions. A study presented at the 2008 Radiological Society of North America Annual Conference found that PEM is not affected by breast density or a woman’s hormonal status – two factors that limit the effectiveness of the standard mammography and MRI in detecting cancer.

The facility at Baylor Dallas is also a testing site for Hologic’s tomosynthesis, a promising new breast screening technology. Tomosynthesis provides a slice-by-slice, three-dimensional view of the breast. This allows radiologists on the medical staff to read single “slices” without interference from structures that are in front or in back of the slice in the breast.

Centers of Excellence

In addition to these advanced technologies the Darlene G. Cass Women’s Imaging Center provides a full range of services, including digital mammography, breast ultrasound, breast biopsy, cyst aspiration, and bone density screening and evaluation. The center offers a nurse navigator for patients who provides emotional support, care coordination and service referrals. In addition, the center features a multidisciplinary approach which gives patients access to a number of physician specialties including surgical, medical, radiation oncology, pathology and reconstructive surgery. 

Both locations have been designated as Breast Imaging Centers of Excellence by the Commission on Quality and Safety and the Commission on Breast Imaging. Both centers also are accredited by the American College of Radiology (ACR) in mammography and have participated in the ACR voluntary accreditation programs in stereotactic breast biopsy, breast ultrasound and ultrasound-guided breast biopsy.

About Baylor Dallas

Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, a 1025-bed not-for-profit academic hospital, is a major patient care and research center in the southwest. The nationally acclaimed medical center serves as flagship hospital for Baylor Health Care System and has earned Magnet status for "Excellence in Nursing Services" from the American Nurses Credentialing Center -- the organization's highest level of recognition. In addition to its Level 1 trauma center, Baylor Dallas is also home to many nationally ranked centers of excellence including transplantation, cardiovascular services, orthopaedics, oncology services, digestive diseases, neurosciences and gynecology. In 2009, U.S. News & World Report recognized Baylor Dallas for the 17th consecutive year in its "America's Best Hospitals" guide.

Physicians are members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Health Care System’s subsidiary, community or affiliated medical centers and are neither employees nor agents of those medical centers, Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas or Baylor Health Care System.