尽管数字乳房断层合成具有比数字乳房X线照相更高的灵敏度和至少同样高的特异性，但数字乳房X线照相仍然是进行乳房X线照相筛查的最常用方法。与此同时，乳房X光检查系统现已“DBT就绪”，可用于数字乳房X光检查或数字乳房断层合成。在本文中，我们询问，鉴于其灵敏度较低，使用此类设备进行数字乳房X光检查在道德上是否允许。我们认为事实并非如此，并且在道德上要求诊所在可行的情况下使用其支持 DBT 的设备进行数字乳房断层合成筛查。我们的论点依赖于数字乳房断层合成与数字乳房X线摄影图像质量的假设改进之间的比较。关键相关性声明：当使用 DBT 设备进行数字乳房 X 线摄影筛查时，女性可能会失去数字乳房断层合成筛查的好处；我们认为这种做法在道德上是有问题的。要点：数字乳房断层合成比数字乳房 X 光检查发现更多乳腺癌病例。乳房X线摄影设备通常可用于通过数字乳房断层合成和数字乳房X线摄影进行筛查。如果可以的话，诊所在道德上必须使用现有设备进行数字乳房断层合成筛查，而不是数字乳房 X 线摄影。© 2024。作者。

Although digital breast tomosynthesis has higher sensitivity than digital mammography and at least as high specificity, digital mammography remains the most common method for conducting mammographic screening. At the same time, mammography systems are now delivered "DBT-ready" and can be used for either digital mammography or digital breast tomosynthesis. In this paper, we ask whether it is ethically permissible to use such equipment for digital mammography, given its lower sensitivity. We argue it is not, and that clinics are ethically required to use their DBT-ready equipment to screen with digital breast tomosynthesis whenever this is practically possible. Our argument relies on a comparison between digital breast tomosynthesis and a hypothesized improvement in the image quality of digital mammography. CRITICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: Women may lose out on the benefits of screening with digital breast tomosynthesis when DBT-ready equipment is used to screen with digital mammography; we argue that this practice is ethically problematic. KEY POINTS: Digital breast tomosynthesis finds more cases of breast cancer than digital mammography. Mammography equipment can often be used to screen with both digital breast tomosynthesis and digital mammography. When they can, clinics are ethically required to use existing equipment to screen with digital breast tomosynthesis instead of digital mammography.© 2024. The Author(s).