Contrast-enhanced mammogram provides faster, clearer picture for women with dense breast tissue
Longmont, Colo. (Nov. 17, 2025) – UCHealth is the first health system in Colorado to offer contrast-enhanced mammography, an advanced imaging technology that launched this month at the UCHealth Breast Diagnostic Center at Longs Peak Medical Center. This innovation marks a major leap forward in breast cancer detection, especially for patients with dense breast tissue or inconclusive imaging findings.
Although mammography remains the gold standard method for reducing lives lost to breast cancer, not all women benefit equally from mammography, explained Dr. Elizabeth Vorhis, a breast radiologist with Advanced Medical Imaging Consultants and the medical director at the breast diagnostic center.
“For women with dense breast tissue, 3D mammography and even breast ultrasound can still miss the earliest signs of breast cancer,” Vorhis said, adding that many of these women are offered additional imaging with breast MRI.
This is where contrast-enhanced mammography is now an option. It is an FDA-approved supplemental diagnostic tool that combines standard mammography equipment with an intravenous contrast agent to produce high-resolution images that can reveal cancers that traditional mammograms may miss.
On a traditional 3D mammogram image of a dense breast, the dense tissue shows up as bright white, cloudy swaths, and any abnormalities, such as cancerous lesions, may not be visible because they show up as solid white spots as well. However, on a contrast-enhanced mammogram image of the same dense breast, abnormalities are more pronounced because they show up as white areas of increased blood flow against a dark background of the normal dense tissue.
“By including an injection of IV contrast right before obtaining a traditional mammogram, we now have a test that is familiar, fast, well-tolerated, and can find early small cancers even in dense tissue, with an accuracy comparable to breast MRI,” Vorhis added.
Contrast-enhanced mammography is also less expensive than MRIs and especially beneficial for patients with claustrophobia or pacemakers who can’t get MRIs. For many patients, it may offer peace of mind and a quicker path to diagnosis or reassurance.
Initially, the new contrast-enhanced mammography option at UCHealth’s Longmont location will be offered to patients who have already undergone imaging that was inconclusive or who require supplemental screening due to risk factors. These patients will be contacted directly by the breast diagnostic center. Broader referral access is expected to expand in 2026.
This program was made possible through a generous donation to the UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital Foundation from a local couple that is committed to improving health care access in Colorado, paired with an investment by UCHealth.
Boulder County residents Claire and Richard Padgett said they quickly recognized the importance of having access to this new capability close to home for women living in northern Colorado and the life-saving impact it could have.
“We are delighted to support the advancement of contrast-enhanced mammography to allow women the opportunity to detect breast cancer as early as possible,” Claire Padgett added.
Press release courtesy of UCHealth and Kelly Tracer.
